On Halo Episode 17:
Yeah, the Chief and Cortana basically develop a "serious stoic guy and sarcastic sidekick" relationship, where Chief does stuff while Cortana cracks jokes while they go along, which humanizes both characters.

also apparently the first game was designed with themes of abandonment and loneliness in mind? since all of Chief's comrades are dead at this point? like I know this is probably defied by the co-op your doing, but imagine going through this game solo: your often the only human there, your allies are mostly Cortana and some humans you rarely see then die off screen, and you have to fight through numerous enemies.

which I know, your probably rolling eyes at that and thinking thats nonsense, with these copy-pasted level designs and such, and nothing in game telling you about Chief's backstory. but thats really what I've read looking up on it. .

also it should be noted: the actual capabilities of Master Chief are augmented beyond human limitations, and basically superhuman in their strength, reflexes and speed, being described as moving in a blur, their bones virtually unbreakable, being able to lift three times their body weight, and so on. the game mechanics of course don't actually show this- there is no way for a player to replicate the reaction time of Spartans which are increased by 300%. and of course his power armor enhances his abilities further. so imagine Master Chief doing what your doing, but he has no second him, no retries and basically sees the world as moving in slow motion to make up for it and you'd begin to have an accurate picture of how he fights through all this.