On the 2nd attempt, I couldn't even make it past one round of torture. On the third round, I managed to resist all five!
For the record, I skipped all of the cutscenes and codec conversation I had already seen on the 2nd and 3rd attempts, and I actually don't remember much of the codec conversation that occured between Ocelot's first two rounds of torture. I still enjoyed them on the first time around and the game has definitely not ceased to provide compelling info at any time. I also remember when Naomi was talking about her genetic career and Snake asked about the possibility of genes containing memories, I couldn't help but think "Assassin's Creed?" Also, when Ocelot was talking about his desire to see another global war (or something), I couldn't help but wonder if this foreshadowed MGS4.
After that, I had to get all the way back to the underground passage where the sniper duel took place (kind of annoying having to take that long route twice within the span of one session, but oh well). This was followed by running past guards to reach the top of the communications tower (fun stuff!), followed by using the rope to evade Liquid Snake's Hind D and taking out guards defending the route to the Stinger Missiles (because we need an anti-aircraft weapon of some sort, yep!). I then had to run up to the top of the area where the initial communications tower chase took place (but not on the roof of the tower, of course) to get a ration in order to survive the stream of turrets in the other tower. There was also more deep conversation between Otacon and Snake beforehand, which I enjoyed listening to (like I said, this game's plot never ceases to be compelling. Bring on MGS4's 30 minute cutscenes - I'm ready!).
And then it was time for man vs. copter! After one failed attempt, I managed to shoot down Liquid Snake's Hind D in a battle that kinda came down to the wire. Either this or Psycho Mantis was probably my favorite boss battle in the game so far. And for now, this seems to be the second boss battle in which the boss actually dies - although I KNOW BETTER OF COURSE.
I'll play more tomorrow. IIRC the end of disc one is looming right around the corner.