I'm currently in the process of platinuming the game. This is one of the most addictive games I've ever played, but as it stands, this is my least favorite console Metal Gear.
With the sparse story, dead motherbase, tedious, repetitive side ops, mediocre boss battles, and horrible pacing, I have no choice to but to rank this last of the main 5 games. A lot of it just feels unfinished, a ton of scenes from the trailers never made it in the game, an important part of the narrative was cut and placed on a Blu ray for us to watch, a ton of filler (especially in chapter 2) to make the game seem like its packed with more content than it actually has.
The gameplay is the best in the series hands down though, the voice acting from almost everyone except Huey's VO was top notch, for an open world game the graphics are amazing (except for the water and fire) and I absolutely loved the beginning and ending of the game. Overall I give the game a 8/10, but that can possibly change once I replay the main missions with all my upgrades and won't be forced to do side ops.
I definitely think whatever happened behind the scenes with Konami and Kojima played a major part in all the cut content.