From my experience at SDCC...the LR was awesome, but I actually prefered the Carbine. The dual modes of the LR, (3 round burst when un-scoped, single shot when scoped), were pretty cool...but the clip was smaller, and the RoF was high but it had a bit more spread. The Carbine only has the single fire mode, but it had a high RoF, good sized clip, and decent spread. Really, like any weapon, it depends on the skill of the player. I am sure if it is unbalanced and a little OP as the game continues, 343i will nerf it. But I think it fits well.