having cool ideas is not the same as having good gunplay.
the weapons can have interesting ideas, and at the same time feel bad to actually use.
painkiller specifically had really weak gunmodel animations, and especially the steak gun felt weird. not only was the animation kinda weak, but also it's very clearly visible that the actual projectile doesn't come out of your gun, but out of the center of your camera view.
the accompanying sound effect while shooting it also doesn't sound all that amazing. it's just a little thud sound.