It's good because of the animations, but you get access to way more powerful weapons later on. I still use it though.
I've got a purple 'Comrade's Hammer' that has a base damage of about 2,300 per single shot, haven't tried a critical headshot to see how much it does.... suffice to say, I could probably hunt planets with it!
But it's too OP - I'd rather roll around giving the enemy a bit of a fighting chance with the Malorian, and the occasional fire blast to the face if they come in for some melee.
Sadly, I get CTD crashes about every 5-15 mins most times I try to play it following the patch, which is pretty disappointing. Borderline un-install time, it's just too infuriating at the moment.