Hell, I could easily say Reach could be what Halo 3 AND 2 should have been. Halo 3 promised an epic campaign and a story; about heroism, tragedy, and sacrifice. That didn't happen, instead we've received a  straight-forward first-person shooter, with a bland and straight-forward story. The campaign wasn't bad, it was enjoyable, but it wasn't as epic as it could've been because the battles weren't any bigger than previous Halos and the set-pieces weren't exactly thrilling. Halo: Combat Evolved actually did have a lot of epic battles and memorable set-pieces, it even had variety in it's mission structure. Halo: CE's missions ranged from exploration, infiltration, search & rescue, covert sniping, and all out assault missions. 
 
Halo: Reach sounds like it's going to be what Halo 3 should have been. It's new setting and characters sound like a great idea for a intimate character driven story about; heroism, tragedy, and sacrifice. Bungie are even promising twice as many enemies on screen than previous games, with up to 40 Covenant enemies and 20 vehicles on screen at once. They're even promising more variety in the missions structure with everything that I've already mentioned for CE, but now they're going to include sandbox levels and space combat. It sounds too good to be true, I was hoping for a worthy successor to Combat Evolved. I just hoping Bungie are going to address issues with Halo 3 and aren't bluffing this time. I will say that the visuals for Reach look very impressive, definitely one of the best looking Xbox360 exclusives, that's something that couldn't be said for Halo 3 at the time, that may be a good sign.
 
Do you predict that Halo Reach's campaign and story are going be what Halo 3 should have been? Or it will be another disappointment or even a bigger one?

I predict that Halo: Reach will be like Tribes but with Halo skins.

I think it will be slightly better, but not by much. I played the campaign of Halo 3 many, many times. Hopefully Reach makes me do the same.

I've always played Halo for the multiplayer. This kind of concern for the campaign confuses me just as much as the Giant Bomb crew's fixation with the Starcraft 2 campaign does.

I may be in the minority but i loved Halo 3 and found it better then 2 in every way. I think Reach is just what a modern Combat Evolved is supposed to be like. Sure Halo isnt that old but gaming has advanced a lot in 9 years and Reach just seems like its being made more modern with sprint and stuff while still retaining that Halo feeling and the core aspects of what made Halo so special at its time of release.

I really enjoyed Halo 3 and ODSTs campaigns. The Halo Reach campaign looks great too.

I only have ODST, so the only part of Halo 3 I got was the multiplayer. With that I can say that Halo 3 was everything Halo 3 should have been.

This is a nonsensical question.

halo 3 for its time looked better than halo reach does for its... 
and halo 3 really wasnt bad 
reach does look to be better imo

I didn't really like Halo 3 that much but I loved Halo 2. I kinda feel like Reach is the true successor of Halo 2.

Seems like Bungie is really cramming a lot more into this game. I'm sure a lot will like it just as much as the previous games but from my point of view I'm just hoping it stays familiar enough to where I'll want to play it for hours and hours like I did with 2 and 3. All these new armor abilities and loadouts really just seem like there is too much crap going on, but I said that when they changed everything for Gears of War 2 and it turned out fine.  So I definitely think this will be a great one nevertheless. I mean it is Halo after all. 

Halo: Single player Campaign around 8 hours+ Local & LAN multiplayer
Halo 2: Single player Campaingn +2 player co-op Campaign+ Online Multiplayer
Halo3: Single player Campaign+ 4 Player co-op campaign+ Online multiplayer+ Forge
Halo Reach: Single player Campaign + [4] Player co-op Campaign (Speculated)+ Online Multiplayer+ Forge World+ Firefight
 
what's the one thing that didn't change in 9 years?

I def. don't hate Halo 2, or 3, although both games slightly disappointed me. I just think when a company hypes a product so much there is almost no way they can live up to the expectations carved out by fans and gamers alike. I hope reach turns out to be a kickass game that won't disappoint fans. 
 
As to the question, I think the developers really just want Reach to be a memorable end to the Halo franchise. I hope that's what they come up with, and in that sense, yes Reach is supposed to be what 3 should have been.

Halo 3 was what Halo 3 should have been.   If Bungie didn't add 4 player co-op, Forge, or theater, then yeah, it would have been disappointing, but it still would have been a good game.  I played WAY too many fucking infection custom games....it's just too damn fun.  Makes me wonder what Reach's Grifball or Infection will be.

this is just flat out stupid. its like saying any sequel thats better than the last game is what the last game was meant to be. 

Dunno. All i know is that Reach is the first Halo game i've ever been legitimately excited for, so that means they must be doing some stuff right by me. After playing the same old rehashed CoD games as my go to play mp game with friends,  Reach looks like it could take that spot this year. It's refreshing to see Bungie making the game like it should be made for the sake of making it a great experience instead of being like MW2 where they just cram everything they can think of in the game that'd be "cool, maaan", making it incredibly unbalanced in the process and then after launch just not giving a shit about what's broken. I play halo 3 on the rare occasion but i'm not the biggest fan of it, but i really enjoyed what i played of the reach beta. That and firefight is just amazing and now that it has matchmaking it's got a lot more legs for me.

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed by the SP in Halo 3. IDK I was just expecting more I guess. Reach does look fantastic, and I think it will very much live up to my expectations.

" I've always played Halo for the multiplayer. This kind of concern for the campaign confuses me just as much as the Giant Bomb crew's fixation with the Starcraft 2 campaign does. "  

" @TwoOneFive: However, Halo 2 & 3 weren't an improvement over Halo: CE, well, at least not to me. Sometimes, sequels don't improve over the original game. Take Devil May Cry 2 and Deus Ex: Invisible War for example. "

Halo 3 campaign: ........Ok 
Halo 3 multiplayer: Fully awesome 
Halo ODST campaign: Better than Halo 3's 
Halo ODST multiplayer: Suckfest 
 
 
I'm just glad were not playing as Master Chief, i feel Master Chief by being so silent, he's sorta limited gameplay wise, hopefully Halo Reach is successful and they pick up the idea that we really DIG the whole group of Spartans thing, and maybe more spin offs like it will come out in the future. 
 
Look at Gears of War 2, main thing i loved about that game was the relationships between delta and the conversations.

I think Halo 3 was what Halo 3 was supposed to be, I'm always surprised when people say it fell short what with it's full campaign 4 player co-op, huge multiplayer options, forge, theater and the awesome features and tracking of bungie.net. I'm not the world's hugest Halo fan, but I always enjoy them and I'm always impressed by the scope of their releases (not just the game, but all the stuff that goes with it).
 
I'm sure Reach will succeed in impressing me as well.

No. I thought Halo 3 was pretty great overall, though I still prefer Halo 2's multiplayer and Halo 1's campaign.
 
Based on what I played in the beta, I think Halo Reach is going to be a disappointment. I felt like it was a downgrade in most ways.

I loved Halo 3 at launch I think perhaps it has aged badly but the multiplayer is still fun. Lately I have been most excited for Forge that new Vidoc looked sweet.

" Seems like Bungie is really cramming a lot more into this game.

Well I've never had any love for the very generic Master Chief and while the characters from ODST were at least people instead of a shell of a man, they weren't very interesting. If this game can make the Spartan team seem like characters I would care about, then I might be pretty interested in the story. The one thing I really want out of the campaign though is more massive vehicle levels. If Bungie can make those fun then I am in.

Horrible question, without the experience and player feedback from Halo 3, I doubt Reach would be as good as it would be now.
 
But yes, I do believe Reach will be a great game that will make me come back to it for years to come, like I kinda never stopped playing Halo 3.