Yeah, I noticed :) (For me, it was the Golan arms flechette from Jedi Outcast, but it's kinda the same weapon in Unreal, Quake and JK, so it felt familiar. )
And on the kick: it was a nice mechanic, fun too, but it was kinda hard for me the get a grasp on it - in huge part because of the button layout. Or it was just a case of me needing to "git gud" in a sense :D