Yeah, GT's Metal Gear retrospective pointed that out. Pretty sure that there are very few non-Foxhound affiliated characters in the game who didn't appear in Metal Gear 2, as well. Any other pre-MGS game with such a boss battle?
I also agree with Leonhart on this game containing one of the best casts of villains in any game, and I have high expectations for the rest of the series where this is concerned.
As for the plot, it seems that if Foxhound wasn't going to launch the nuke, it was going to take over the world via cloning Big Boss. Nice to know! IIRC that was in the one codec conversation I said I didn't remember very well. I know some people don't like major plot reveals coming through codec, and I can understand why it would irk someone, but I personally really enjoy it.
As I said, this game's an easy 10/10 for story. Quite frankly, the same can be said of the presentation. And the gameplay (well the gameplay does have some things that irk me, but not a whole lot at all). And the design. And the whole darn game.
Yeah, this is one of the best games ever. 'Nuff said.
And...wow, both Snake's and Otacon's real names are references to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Honestly, I've never seen that movie. I was already very interested in it anyway.