Its not that it being a third person game is important to me. Its just that making such a big change this late in the process tells me they might be having larger issues.
It's not that big of a change. If you watch the mission demos, a lot of the interactions are contextual and require first person, like drawing your gun. The game itself has always been first person from the start.
I love immersive games when they are done well so I'm absolutely for it.