Quantum Redshift w/ a Pinch of Saffron [comics]
I received a comic in the mail recently all the way from England! It’s a 10 page, one-shot promo comic tie-in for the 2002 Xbox exclusive game “Quantum Redshift.”
Cover Artist: Carlos D’anda / Writer: Dennis O’Neil / Artist: Paco Medina
The story centers on Kumiko who is blackmailed into losing a race so her boyfriend won’t get hurt. He was taken as a means of ransom to get revenge against Kumiko’s father who made a bad deal with some mob folks. I think the story is lame and basic and so is the artwork, neither doing much justice for an awesome future racer sport.
The comic sets-up the badmouthing and animosity between characters during the game’s pre-race cutscenes — in this case it’s about the Nikaido sisters, Kumiko and Ami — but the same story could have been told about a game of tennis or lawnbowls. A wasted opportunity to showcase any level of uniqueness that Quantum Redshift has.
The quantum vehicles don’t get much of any panel time and there isn’t much exposition explaining the game. The comic is a keeper though, but only because I love the game’s 16 characters, the game’s design, the gameplay and the game’s soundtrack by JunkieXL:
The voice behind “Crusher” may sound familiar to anyone who grew up watching music videos in the 90’s:
Man I loved that song. Redshift (something that happens when light from an object moving away from the observer is increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the spectrum) was meant to be a one million dollar Wipeout killer and Curly Monsters Ltd. were contracted by Microsoft to make a sequel. So what happened? You can read more about it @ Eurogamer.net
