So I read the official MG2 translation script.

I'm not entirely happy with all of the dialogue changes, but I like the official version more, for the most part. I'm not too thrilled about them randomly making breast jokes about Holly to remind us that YES SHE IS INDEED AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN OH MY GOD OVARIEEEES, and I don't like how they've translated a few specific lines, and I still don't understand the point of all the name changes (yeah, okay, Ultrabox The Four Horsemen had to go, but in what world is Jungle Evil a better name than Predator? And sexy Natasha Markova sounds so much more musical and graceful than frumpy Gustava Heffner, doesn't it?) but, overall, this is score one point for the Spirit of Woolsey.

Snake, in particular, is much better in the translation. I'm not pleased with "No, I don't have a family" over the more assertive (if more awkward) "No. I have no family.", since the latter version is something he says about FIVE TIMES in MGS1, but he seems much more human. He gets a lot more dialogue and he comes across as a lot less professional and cold. He pretty much openly fanboys Natasha Gustava, which is great and hysterical, and the Spirit of Woolsey really showed off here:

[Context - Natasha is dying in Snake's arms.]

MSX2
SNAKE: NATASHA? OH GOD, NOT YET, NOT YET...

PS2
Snake: The ice is starting to thaw between the East and West. Gustava, it's time to start planting your feet on the ground... take control of your life and start living! Gustava... don't give up now...

HAAAAA OMG HE JUST GIVES AN INSPIRING SPEECH ABOUT ICE HE'D HAD NO PRECEDENCE FOR, YOU CAN JUST FEEL THE TRANSLATORS RUBBING THEIR HANDS IN GLEE

I'm not sure what's better - ridiculous incoherent sobbing out of nowhere, or ridiculous incoherent pep-talk out of nowhere. Am I allowed to take both?

Snake's other real crowning relationship in this translation is with Holly. Instead of hitting on her pretty blatantly like in the original, he basically goes EW GIRLS NO and teasingly tells her that she's making him really uncomfortable, and Holly basically goes 'OH SORRY MY FAULT I DIDN'T MEAN TO SEXUALLY HARASS YOU SORRY' and it makes her even more lovely. She's fast becoming one of my favourite female characters in this series and that's really horrible because she shares my name and nationality to some extent and basically has my dream job, so I'm pretty sure you're all mouthing 'canon-Sue wish-fulfilment' right now.

But, back to the point, the one moment that got me really hard in the retranslated script involves Holly. It's a totally new sequence, and turns a vaguely creepy scene into something really awful.

In the original, Snake's making stupid jokes about ordering Holly a limo after killing Big Boss, and Holly basically tells him to grow up (he doesn't). I mentioned in my other ramble that it was creepy.

In this version, Snake tells her he has 'one more job to do', and tricks Holly into thinking he's about to kill himself in front of her with the gun she's just given him. Of course, it turns out that it was a joke, but it isn't funny, and Holly yells at him that it wasn't funny, and she's right.

Of course, I'm not sure if it was intentional that it plays into the MGS4 trailer 'I have one last mission' suicide-consideration in the creepiest possible way, but it's a retcon that really works. It really does point out that Snake is, at this point, having a mental breakdown before Holly's eyes, and even Holly's last words to him change from a more resigned 'oh that crafty Snake running off ditching girls like James Bond it's just one of his more charming traits' to a simple 'How low can he get?'

I don't quite like how the script forces quite childish, informal speech patterns on characters who are supposed to be professional - it makes the whole thing even more campy, which honest to god is not needed in any Metal Gear - but, overall, it's nice to read the script in English.