If you're at all familiar with the series I would definitely recommend it. If you've never played any of the previous games the story might be hard to follow though.
If you haven't played previous MGs though I would recommend Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. It isn't necessary to play the previous games in the series to enjoy it, and it is (imo) of nearly the same quality as MGS: PO. Both of those games are quality stealth action games. I also hear Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow is great, but you have to play Dark Mirror first as it picks up where DM leaves off.
__________________
|