Yeah, it really is that bad. I loved Halo because it was balanced. Everyone had the same opportunity for success at the start of each match. That is now permanently gone. Reach started to steer us from that path. 343 promised to fix the issues. They made everything much, much worse by ripping every new feature from the franchise I hate the most. I'm just glad I'm into Halo for the story, and used to be into it for the music.
there's still balance in the game, just because it's not AR vs. AR at the start everytime doesn't mean there's no balance. Not everyone had the same opportunity for success in any halo, there were still many factors playing a part.