This game is absolutely bonkers, with a well thought out narrative, that knows when not to take itself too seriously. Hell, most of the game relies on its absurdity in a well functioning fashion. What kills this game is its gameplay and arguably story in the middle sections of the game. The level design is uninspired and boring, the story events in the middle are quite dry despite its moments of charming insanity.

What really ties the game together are the first hour or so and the last two hours of so for very different reasons. The tanker part has some good level design, a thick atmosphere and great pacing despite the story events of the start not quite reaching the heights of the ending. It's such a shame how fundamentally uninteresting the gameplay is in the middle, because it does a huge disservice to the actual content of the game. What makes it confusing is that the previous game never had these same problems, even when the moment-to-moment gameplay is essentially the same but antiquated with some backtracking springled on the top. Metal Gear Solid 2 at its peak it's one of the funniest, creepiest, compelling and unique experiences in any media, and what there is to talk about it is better than what you would actually play most of the time.