Atlus is really something special in the industry – a publisher that's not afraid to do things a little differently. Where powerhouses like EA struggle to achieve market dominance by churning out sequel after sequel to surround you with their product, Atlus isn't afraid to strike out in a different direction, exploring those dark little niches for some truly unique fare, like the Playstation's gothic, philosophical Shin Megami Tensei titles, or hospital-puzzler Trauma Center for the DS. Their latest, Rule of Rose (from Punchline Studios), is hitting stores near you right now. As expected, it's quirky, it's captivating, and more than a little eerie.

It's a survival horror game that will draw comparisons to Silent Hill in execution, but while the similarities in the style of play are there, there are a host of little touches that truly give Rule of Rose its own feel, somewhere halfway between nursery rhyme and horror story. You play a young girl, initially unarmed and alone, orphaned due to unfortunate circumstance, and for some reason the bus that you're riding leaves you stranded at a creepy orphanage. But the place isn't infested with shambling zombies or scary ghosts – at least, not at first glance. The only friend you'll find is a loyal dog, who can help you fend off attackers and, more importantly, find you clues. And the worst of the monsters you'll find here ... are the children.

The children are what set the tone for what is most certainly NOT a kid-friendly title. Rule of Rose is a psychological thriller – maybe survival “horror” is the wrong word. “Disturber” might be a little closer to the emotion it generates. You'll spend much of your time scurrying from safe point to safe point, guarded by the eerie “Bucket Knights,” small bucket-headed scarecrows that appear to be inanimate but speak whisperingly to you in a fairy-tale manner, allowing you to save your game among other things. You'll spend a lot of time avoiding threatening situations, as you hunt for items to appease the “Aristocracy of the Red Crayon,” the model hierarchy that these otherwise unsupervised orphans use to threaten or control one another. And as you do, you'll have to prepare yourself for a chill or two. Sometimes, from monsters you see – more often, as is the case in any good horror work, from the things you don't know about.

You can never see into those bathroom stalls from the camera angle you're given, until you go right up to them. You don't know where this one child's parents are, or why she is pushing a dead rat into your face, or what happened to the parents, or what is going to happen to the rat. You don't know how to feel about stabbing a screaming child-thing in the eye with a dessert fork, if it didn't have any eyes to begin with. You know that something's a little bit wrong with two young girls touching each other like THAT, but you can't point specifically to what is wrong. Nothing is shown; everything is implied. It's a type of scary that you have to be somewhat mature to appreciate -- it's not for those people who want to go toe-to-toe with the undead, chainsaws a-blazing. Nor is it for those folk who hate things that go bump in the night. Rather, it's for those of you out there that know how many of our nursery rhymes and fairy tales were a lot grislier and scarier before Disney cleaned them up. Scarier, and you liked them better that way.

The interface is done lovingly as though your map and notes were all scribbled in handwriting on paper, or with the sound of chalk marking a chalkboard; they go perfectly with the 1930's-era setting. The setting is European, and the voice-acting is well done and all the creepier for that crisp English pronunciation. And the CG movies (by Shirogumi) are truly breathtaking, definitely coming in at the high-water mark for what the PS2 is capable of. I can't promise you that this game will be your cup of tea, but I can tell you that it is something that truly stands alone. It will be lost all by itself amongst all the Madden and new 360 titles out there right now. So maybe if you're not scared, you should help it find its' way safely home...?