There is no mercy in this game whatsoever. Enemies do not let up. They'll punch you on the ground, they'll pick you up and piledrive your face into the cement, hell, enemies with weapons will even take shots at you while you're fighting even if it means shooting their friend. It makes for some crazy fights that, if you survive, will leave you feeling you accomplished something in the game. There are other means of retiring enemies in the game other than fisticuffs.
Weapons can also play a large part, although it's a whole lot more fun to get in fights.
Some interesting choices for long range damage make their way into the game. Two types of ammo split the guns up into ballistic and energy categories. Ballistics include the standard pistol and sub-machinegun type weapons as well as crazy contraptions like the Scram Cannon that shoots a cluster of homing missiles towards the target and the Mercury Bow that shoots a sliver of frozen mercury and then goes through a cooling phase before it can fire again. The energy guns consist of stun gun type shockers, plasma type guns and a Screaming Cannon that has a very slow speed but is hugely powerful. You'll also find power-ups scattered around the playing areas and in the possession of various NPCs around the maps.