MGS2 was better than MGS3.

It nails the core MGS gameplay and has a far better story. MGS3 was literally created by Kojima to be a dumbed down version of MGS to appeal to midwits.

MGS 3 is the only good vidya prequel I can think of. It's masterful and it surprised me in just how good it was.

MGS 2 is a great game with a great story, I can even agree that it's a better story than MGS 3. But MGS 3 hit the nail on the head with the Big Boss prequel so it's my favorite.