Gwen, I'm a little late, but MGS3 actually had a bit of self-awareness about it. The plot is all spy-movie chic in the Metal Gear style, and all the characters are much less moody and self-involved. Para-Medic especially is just plain likeable. The endgame actually provides the only time MGS has ever surprised me, by NOT making the traditional paranoid conspiracy theorists' them, the government, or whoever, behind the entire villainous scheme, and actually creating a meaningful story with a couple of just really interesting characters.
Anyway, other than MGS3, I am done with the series. Metal Gear GBC was the only one I really liked.