http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/09/26/bungie-claims-any-link-to-madel...
This is no "coincidence"...maybe if Bungie matures, their key audience will...

[b]Halo 3 Beta Update[/b]

[u]Very nice read, Frankie sounds less sarcastic than usual.[/u];) 12. Will Halo 3 feature an online Coop Mode? Frank O Connor: There are quite a few things that didn’t make it into Halo 2 so we get asked if they’ll be in Halo 3. If they didn’t make it into Halo 2 there’s a very good reason for that. Things like the Mongoose have made it into Halo 3, but we haven’t made any announcements about a coop mode yet. 13. Are you influenced by other games like Gears of War, would you consider implementing some things like the Gears of War cover system in Halo 3?

HALO 3 Co-Op speculation:
wrote this about 4 weeks ago elsewhere.

[quote]I've deduced that there MUST be Co-Op in HALO3...there has to be. Of course there is Co-Op in HALO2 off-line.
This hasn't been confirmed yet but it has to be there...with a 4 player team is what I'm envisioning.
Ooh the things I've read, studied, played, plus imagined sparks my so-called soul with the best and the worst possibilities to come in HALO3. (story line game play)