I agree with you to a certain extent Exe, when you reach the shotgun it really feels like you have gone back one level instead of progressing, whereas a pistol has a decent range, in the case of the shotgun you really need to be very close to your opponent, i always feel like i hit a brick wall when i progress to a shotgun, but then again is this game about progressing to a more powerful weapon at each level...i don't think it is, remember you end the game with a knife, the least powerful weapon in the game, i think the AK47 is probably the most powerful weapon in the game yet you get that before other weapons, i think this game is more about the challenge then progressing to more powerful weapons.