I liked using the hand cannons while running around in the map. I wanted them more than the shotty personally. They do great damage at close range. I was hoping to pick it up as a back up weapon like the shotty but unfortunately they don't allow you to do like in Halo :-( and it has to be your main weapon. I found it too hard to run around in PvP with it since most are shooting you from midrange or a little further.