So don't let anybody tell you any different. Here are my reasons:
1. Attention to detail: See a poster and there was a comment about it. See a bottle of champagne? Shoot it. It would spill on the floor. See a bug? Squish it. See an ice cube? If you waited long enough, it would melt right before your eyes. There's a cable hanging from a crane 100 feet in the air. You've never even noticed that it was there. Go ahead. Shoot it. It will react to the bullets! Somebody took the time to add this obscure element! Even the little tranquilizers that you shot from your gun had writing on them if you zoomed in with your binoculars.
2. Diversity: In the span of a few hours, you were sniping plastic explosives, photographing Metal Gear Rex, listening to conversations with a microphone, swimming, escorting a woman around, putting out fires with liquid coolant, looking for explosives, etc. No other MGS game offered this much diversity.
3. Raiden: You can ridicule the guy all you want but a.) He had a girlfriend. b.) He kicked ass. The guy took on 421 Metal Gear Rex at one time. And by playing as Raiden, you got to see just how awesome Snake really was from a bystander's point of view. Plus, Raiden had a nice butt.
4. It was pretty: This game came out in 2001. If it was released today for the Wii, it would still be amazing. The explosions, the water effects, the character models. Nothing anybody was showing in 2001 came close. Kojima and co. were years ahead of the competition.
5. The Story: At the time, it was pretty absurd. The Patriots died about 100 years ago? WTF was Hideo smoking? After finishing MGS3, everything became clear.
6. Easter Eggs: There's a guy who pees off of the balcony that you're sneaking under. There's a comment for that. There are posters from FHM. You can kiss them. Snake even whacks off! During the Sniper Section, equip the microphone and snoop around. You'll be surprised what you find. See a bird, shoot it. This is just scratching the surface. Long story short, the more you look, the more you'll find.
So next time somebody tells you that MGS2 sucked, kick 'em in the balls. That'll learn 'em.
