Let us first talk about the humble melee weapon. This is a weapon that is always on your person as a super animal. As such, regardless of your loadout, you always have one available to you.
A melee weapon has a very short swing range, and will do so in the general direction that one is pointing. Unlike other weapons, a melee attack can actually chain into other melee attacks, each with different animations, and by continuing to press the fire button one can chain all three.
Another nice thing to note about a melee weapon is that it flows reasonably well with movement and so does not hinder movement much – which, combined with melee weapons being light enough to offer the best movement in the game, is good for helping to control distance between yourself and your target.
A melee strike is also able to hit multiple targets within its strike arc, and unlike ranged weapons, is not dependent on ammunition. It is just good to know that switching to melee can be a viable option in various situations.
The ‘next’ weapon category to take a closer look at is the pistols class.