Hitman has difficulty just for hardcore

Hitman: Absolution features a difficulty level designed specifically for veteran fans of the series, and will reward those who play the game as if they were playing past entries in the franchise.

This difficulty level - and associated achievements/trophies - require the gamer play in true stealth assassin style, Danish developer IO Interactive has revealed.

Lead producer Hakan Abrak said to get the stealth assassin-related achievements you'll need to do a number of things: "We will get into more details at a later point, but obviously it's linked to the playing style," he explained.

"It's more pacify your enemies, be undetected, maybe solve the challenges in a smarter way. That will probably give you a stealth assassin achievement."

The live Hitman: Absolution gameplay demo shown to press sees Agent 47 sneaking about a library, stealthily killing cops and assuming a disguise before escaping into a packed city street.

Absolution has come in for some stick from fans of the popular series for apparently ditching the hardcore stealth gameplay of previous games - in past Hitman games players would often try to kill only the "mark" assigned to Agent 47.

But, according to Abrak, the Absolution demo was choreographed to show off Absolution's new features - and should not be taken to indicate a drastic shift in direction.

"We have a lot of difficulty levels in the game as well," he said. "Rest assured, the hardcore fans that like to have replayablity value in the game or want to have this stealth assassin - you know, I'm the ultimate stealth assassin - that playing style, those achievements, are very much in the game.

"There's a huge replayability value in it and we have some features in the game I cannot speak about that will enhance this and make this easier, and heighten the replayability value for the hardcore players as well."

Does the hardcore difficulty level have a special name?

"Yeah, it has a very special name," Abrak teased. "And I'm pretty sure it's going to please the hardcore fans. I can't say what it is."