I'm the first to admit that I'm horrible at first person shooters, so I probably don't stand for the whole userbase here when I say that Halo 3 is better than Halo Reach. I have been playing Reach since launch and I've gotten sick of the next-gen browns and blues that seem to permeate the title. It's darker and heavier and it feels more like Call of Duty than the fun, colorful, alien-battling title that Halo 3 was. I was driven to complete Halo 3's solo campaign; not so in Reach. Master Chief was a boss and I miss him. Noble Team doesn't feel like anything near an adequate swap. I also think the armor in Halo Reach is ugly and disproportionate. The colors are all too muted except for the ridiculous pale pinks and yellows and everyone's body is so much larger than their head. Re-watching games in theater is nowhere near the entertaining experience it was in Halo 3. So the weapons and environments and graphics in general are more updated; they're also just uglier. The whole game felt like it took itself too seriously. Sorry guys, you're not a real military game. You shoot aliens. It's a 21st century version of Space Invaders.
I'm returning to Halo 3 and I'm sure nobody here cares because nobody here knows me but as a slightly disgruntled Bungie customer I thought I'd take to the forums and have my voice heard: I miss the color and whimsy and beauty and fun of Halo 3.