MGS2 is the worse of the series. The story was full of contrived crap, it played like a movie filled with cliché statements and the presentation of those was simply mediocre.

If you want a game that really shows how to present philosophies without forcing it on players, and has a story that truly conveys every intention at it's fullest without losing on presentation, then go buy 'Deus Ex'

We may not represent the entire gaming population, but we represent a good portion of it. I know a few people who won't buy a MGS game anymore because MGS2 angered them so much.

I won't even buy MGS4 on launch day. I'll rent it and then if it's tolerable, I might purchase the game. Kojima pissed off a lot of people with MGS2. Just look in this thread. Five or six people have already popped up and mentioned how much they despised the storyline.

Hardly, if you listen to most of the complaints they are "GAY! I WANTED TO BE SNAKE!!!"

You can judge it all you want, but criticizing its realism and judging it against a Kubrick movie is hardly justified, especially not a game like MGS which revolves heavily around fantasy. I agree with some of your points but some of them are just completely ridiculous,  you obviously have a vendetta against MGS2.

And for the record, I didn't think the storyline was brilliant myself but for a game I thought it was highly engaging and enjoyable.

hindsight has alot of insight. People get caught up in hype and it's not until a year later we know the actual quality of the game.

I agree with this.

Number of people in this thread who mentioned how much they hated MGS2's story: 9

Number of people in this thread who mentioned that Raidan was a playable character: 0

I think this should tell you a little something about the credibility of Reviewers. Also, don't forget about Sony mailing out guides on "how to review Lair". Sony doesn't have to pay off reviewers, they just have to threaten to cut them off from previews and upcomming news items giving the competition the edge.

Also, don't you love it whenever a person reaches the end of a dark alley in a debate about a game's quality then try to rely on game reviews to justify their opinions?

The reviewers bought into the hype. Everyone did. The only thing is, you can take back an opinion when your a little bit older and little bit wiser. You can't take back a good review though.

While you brought up the fact so many reviewers gave it 100%, its perhaps the most startling proof that reviewers were blinded by the hype when reviewing this game. Whether you loved it or hated it, everyone can agree this game is not a 100%.

You think some of my points are ridiculous but for some reason don't bother to mention which ones. Though in lieu of this I clearly have a vendetta, I guess we're just going to have to take your word for it then, just like we're going to have to take your word for it that you can't compare video games to reality even if they do use reality as a key focal point.

And for the record, I never made any allegations about your enjoyment or lack there of in this game.

And for the record, MGS revolves around Sci-Fi/Fiction and Tom Clancy-ish political hypotheticals. If it revolved around fantasy Snake would be flying a dragon while ogres pirated Metal Gears which were powered by philosipher stones.