After MGS1 Kojima didn't like that the English localization team had edited some of the dialogue instead of just doing a direct translation, and so in MGS2 you get awkward lines like "We've managed to avoid drowning".

The game has a post-modernist story that pokes fun at the action genre. The game itself has references to the post-modern book, City of Glass including having a character, Peter Stillman, share his name with a character from the novel. MGS1's story almost seems plausible in a science fiction mindset, but MGS2 completely throws that out the window. Vamp can walk on water? There's a secret group controlling everything and they are all dead? Revolver Ocelot is somehow being controlled by Liquid from beyond the grave? It is all insane twist and turns that never intended to have meaning, and fair enough Kojima didn't want to have a direct sequel to MGS2 for a very long time. And then comes MGS4, and all the answers become "Nanomachines, son" (And yes that's Rising and not MGS4)

Gameplay wise it was pretty good. The Shell's environments are a bit too linear, but the game was good in that it improved upon the base game of MGS1. You couldn't run and gun through the game, but you approached could fight it out for a bit in order to escape. Also the game probably had the best Director's cut with all of those VR missions and Snake Tales.

I love it for how batshit crazy it is, but Raiden and Rose are insufferable. Even in MGS4 it is still REALLY bad. That end scene with Raiden, Rose, and their child in the hospital were horrible. Who the fuck cares?

You can absolutely run and gun through 2. The distances between exits is very short and a lot of times guards wont follow you to a connecting bridge.

MGS2 is probably my favorite Metal Gear game. However, I remember when I first got it I didn't really feel too strongly about it one way or the other. The character switch didn't bother me as much as it did other people. I think I just didn't "get it" at the time. Huge parts of the story just went way over my head and I couldn't really appreciate it like I do now. It kinda sucks how much you have to seek out the meaning behind things by yourself but if you put in the time, it's really worth it and makes the game so much more enjoyable.

I found this bit to be really interesting: When Raiden first enters the Big Shell he has the codename Snake. His voice is actually pretty different and isn't so whiney sounding. The moment the colonel changes his codename to Raiden, his voice changes!