It was my first MGS game. I enjoyed it and have a high opinion of it, but not a memorable title.

Well for me its the best i must have completed it about 8 times.

I'm assuming you're familiar with MGS4, so I won't describe it's design. It's not necessarily innovative, but it improved upon previous games and took liberties in changing a few things to fit with context of the story. The graphics and story, which were part of the experience like I've stated in my post, were new for 2008. The game wowed the critics, fans and gamers and was above their expectations for the time, so it received universal acclaim. 

It might not have aged well, and I don't believe in perfect scores, but it's still a defining game of the last generation and a great one at that.  

same here

it was one of the best PS3 exclusives last gen and my second favorite MGS, with only MGS 3 topping it but i consider that game a masterpiece so theres that.

I get all that. At the time I remember loving the story and emotion but felt that the gameplay was nothing special really. I liked the new camera and controls but felt like the gameplay was not really great.

It was my first MGS, and it was good enough that I literally read every single encyclopedia entry that accompanied the game.

haha, i still have that enciclopedia and as someone who likes the story i will never errase it.

The game does not have even a single mixed or negative review in MetaCritic. It received a 10 from IGN and another 10 from GameSpot (total solar eclipses happen more often than that) and has almost 3000 positive user reviews.

I find it hard to believe that everyone can fully understand how powerful the story is. People attacked The Last of Us for the same reasons they attacked MGS4. Yes, the gameplay and story is slow-paced but this manages to build up for great and unforgettable moments. And don't get me started with how good and out of the ordinary the multilayer is for both TLOU and MGS4 :)

If I ever put my PS3 back together, it's still on the HDD lol.  I should...since it's an original 60g hah.

I was disappointed by it from get-go. The octo-camouflage wasn't a good idea, some cutscenes do drag on but the part that I was the most let down by was the boss fights and the bosses themselves.

After iconic bosses like Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Fortune, The End, The Boss, etc... the Beauties are utterly disappointing and unoriginal. It doesn't help that you get their back story AFTER you kill them via a codec conversation with Drebin.

There's other annoyances too like that damn monkey on roller skates and Noami no longer having a sexy British accent. Also I wasn't a fan of the final fist fight with Revolver and the button mashing microwave corridor.