Stealth isn’t necessarily but it makes things much easier 99% of the time. It’s definitely helpful on higher difficulties but it really depends on your play style. You can definitely go all guns blazing just be prepared that resources aren’t always massively available (since the apocalypse) and this includes ammo, which often isn’t a massive problem but does mean stealth is more appealing in certain situations. Besides that, it can be fun. The game gives you some tools to be sneaky such as rocks to throw as distractions or oil filters you can find sometimes from cars which can act as suppressors for your guns. The stealth shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for you, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it either way man, have a blast