The only time I came across getting smoked right after spawning was when I spawned on some slow moving corner creeper.
I like that there seems to be a bit more recoil with the weapons, and the sub-machine guns can't shoot across the map accurately. It feels like they gave a range to each weapon and once your target is beyond that, the bullets spray more. (Although I haven't played Hardcore yet and uncovered the equivalent of the silenced UMP.). A friend said that the AK-74u was pretty beastly though, I haven't hit the level to unlock it yet.
Overall MP level design seems nice, each maps has a nice mix of close quarters and long line-of-sights. I like what I've seen so far, but haven't even touched anything but Ground War.