I`d like to play that way but it seems from the QL that it would be rather hard to hide and snipe dudes from a distance if they know Im coming before I even see them. Does anyone have info on this? 
Also, can I play with an x360 controller?

Stealth and Sniping is doable, but very similar to Crysis 2 where you'll have to cloak / shoot / cloak and try to hide behind objects that keep breaking the line of sight of enemies. That approach also works if you'd like to play melee, but the constant engage/disengage/recharge cycle might get annoying after some time. While some weapons are silenced, it didn't have as much of an impact as I'd liked to.

The developers said on their website that one of the changes from the upcoming big patch will be changing the way enemies see you, to encourage stealthy play. I know that doesn't help you now, but there you have it.

@Rattle618: You're probably going to have to switch between keyboard and controller constantly. Unless you don't care about mapping controls.

Given the choice I always go the stealth sniper route so I'm glad they are making it easier to play that way.  Silenced weapons don't seem to do squat right now so I'm slowly shifting my character to have more endurance and wearing heavier armor.  So far the most effective way to snipe is to try and funnel the enemy down one path and shoot from a long distance.
 Also, waiting for the next patch is a good idea anyways because they developers are working on a lot of stability issues.  So far my game crashes every time I load a new level.  I don't lose any progress but I have to relaunch the game after every area.
I also wish they would add a crouch toggle similar to fallout new vegas.   
 
All that said, I do like the game and would recommend people at least giving it a look.

Sniping is very viable, in fact you will need to snipe on some of the later levels... (without giving too much away)

@dandead said:

Sniping is very viable, in fact you will need to snipe on some of the later levels... (without giving too much away)

Even in some of the early levels, sniping is the way to go.

@HorsemanVI said:

@dandead said:

Sniping is very viable, in fact you will need to snipe on some of the later levels... (without giving too much away)

Even in some of the early levels, sniping is the way to go.

that level with the guys with the lasers on the bridges up top, even the most OP minigun in existence still didn't work that well :P

Sniping is good if not op in this game, stealth, nearly useless outside the aforementioned cloak ability.  I recently started playing with the dermal shielding ability, it is fairly useful as well as long as it isn't an outright mob pummeling you.  Sniper rifles in general are extremely powerful in all the levels except for the ones that involve you being bombarded with never ending wave of metastruemonic creatures.

If you're fighting Looters or Feds, sniping is great. Combine with hacking for good times all around.
If you're fighting the metathingies, you better pack a minigun and a boxed lunch, because you're going to be a while.

being a sniper is hard... the next patch SHOULD fix this, along with several dozen other glitches and bugs. That said, I have made several attempts to play silent and concluded that the heavy weapons approach is much easier.

if you're going stealth sniper, dump some point on strength to a point that you can wield the hunting rifle
it basically have no zoom, but pack LOTS of punch, took like a clip or two to take down Deus Ex, and 3 shots would take down those pesky flying machines on mars