It's the best, but these games aren't the kind of games that people just jump straight into without playing them in order. At least I would never do that, or recommend it to people wanting to get into it.
Also was there ever any confusion over when MGS3 was gonna take place? I know people were fooled into thinking Snake was the main playable character in 2, but I never thought it was gonna be that guy in 3. It took place in the 60s, and solid snake existing before he was born would have been an impossibility.