In general, since it's a team game, the standard Splinter Cell style stealth won't be well-captured. The rogue isn't usually going to be able to defeat the enemies that were set up to challenge the entire party. And, if you can, then you are going to get glares from around the table as they watch you play.
But, I think none of that is the role for stealth characters in D&D. In general, I have found stealthy characters most useful for essentially recon. If you know there are a crowd of giants around that corner, then you can spend 2 rounds getting all your buffs in place, which can make a world of difference. The same can be true about picking the battlefield. That one is more creative, but if you can draw the enemies out or something, you can pull them to an environment more favorable to your party.
Finally, at high levels I have found "mundane" stealth much much better than relying on magic. And, I feel like I should know a bit about it since I played a rogue-type up to like 28th level. At higher levels, magical concealment is easily foiled by ubiquitous true-seeing, see invisibility, etc. But, the humble Hide check, which can be boosted up immensely, can still be quite viable, usually supported by Darkstalker. Unless you just randomly inject house rules like "darkvision makes hiding obsolete," something I've never even seen the vaguest reference to in the rules, the skill check, if you put some resources into it, is probably the most durable form of sneaking. The only other contender I can think of is that 8th level Superior Invisibility spell, but that's a lot of resources for a relatively short-term benefit.
But, yeah, the big answer to this question is the chance to ready your buffs. The stealthy dude should have some quick escape abilities, just in case, but it can really help if the party thinks a bit about how to take advantage of those skills.