gets around the occasional frustrating mission or boss fight by having probably the most engaging gameplay loop in a metal gear game that isn't MGS2. the mission-based and base-building style gameplay of capturing soldiers to hire them as combatants or R&D members (among other roles) for MSF fits big boss' leadership qualities more than it does solid snake and is engaging in its own right
they didn't really need to continue big boss' story after MGS3 since I think the end of that game already made his motivations for his more cynical point-of-view in MG2 - but peace walker manages to make its story worthwhile by showing him struggling to come to grips with the boss' death and having him slowly develop into his more villainous personality from MG1 and 2 by the end of the game
the best part, however? this game is deeply unserious - moreso than any metal gear game before it. and I kinda love it for that. the comedic briefing tapes substituting for the prior games' codec banter and the various wacky extra ops that see BB doing silly shit like playing pooyan with fultoned soldiers, or going having rough gay sex with miller under a cardboard box. we've come a long way from bisexual vampires

naked snake/big boss may genuinely be one of my favorite characters in this series behind raiden so far largely because of this game. you can very well see how the philosophy that led him to build outer heaven and zanzibar land takes root in how he was used - and how the boss was disposed of - simply to get the US out of hot water; it makes him become incredibly jaded by the end of the game and far removed from the devoted patriot to his mission and his country he was in the beginning. the events of operation snake eater turn him completely cold, contrasting with the joyful applaud of his puppeteers in the room as the president awards him his new title.
MGS3's character writing is unparalleled to the rest of the series in BB's relationship with the boss, EVA, and ocelot - who all prove to great characters in their own right - even if i still prefer MGS2's story overall. every relationship gets the time to fully develop and reach a logical endpoint, whether it be BB's struggle to open up to EVA turning into him prioritizing her dwindling safety over the mission by the time they escape from groznyj grad, or his somewhat-friendly rivalry with a young, inexperienced revolver ocelot ending in a mutual respect for each other, or both BB and the boss desperately trying to push the love between a mother and son away for the sake of the mission.
the boss could not be any more of a fantastic final fight and closer to this game - one last showdown against the woman who taught you everything you know in a bloodied field of flowers, minutes away from annihilation as the legendary vocals of "snake eater" play in the background. tight shit.

while i feel MGS3 is less tightly designed gameplay-wise than 1 and 2 due to the annoyance of sneaking around in certain areas like groznyj grad, the Metal Gear Special™ of telling a beautiful, profound and thrilling story i feel more than makes up for, despite its flaws, what is still the same tension-filled and satisfying gameplay metal gear is at its core.

what a thrill indeed.