It's October! Zombies are in fashion!
Yes, that was one of the ideas for making the gun's recoil so big. It's also there to make the decision of shooting more interesting over all. As you travel between zombies you can't just blindly fire away. And you can also use it kind of like a dash move, to zip between zombies and get out of danger quickly.
The gun also use to have a larger cooldown. But the more a played and watched other people play, the more I lean to make the player stronger and easier to control. I'd probably bring it down to a more manageable level. If the player could kill zombies from inside the number that'd just be an extra incentive for them to travel to the current number.
The zombies spawn right underneath the graves.
I think 123 Haven has a nicer rhythm to it.