Just done the first three levels in MotN.
This game is seriously good. I usually hate stealth games and feel cheated when I get caught most of the time. The mechanics here are seriously good, the level design is good, and the art style is brilliant. Plus the story is told through these cartoon type cutscenes which are beautiful. I'd highly highly recommend it, probably my favourite game I've picked up through the sale so far along with Sleeping Dogs.
I'm glad you are enjoying it fellow GAFfer. It pays to be patient and try to be stealth indeed. To me, it also made the game more fun. The Checkpoints are fair so if you mess up you can always retry and you will not lost progress.
Hope you keep playing and I hope you like the ending.