My theary is your melee, or fist is not faster than a bullet, but in halo that doesnt matter because you take multiple bullets unlike CoD. In halo, when you melee your guy resets by pulling back his fist and grabs the gun. This takes time. While the the other guy is doing this I keep shooting. In halo reach they added something from CE, or took away something from halo3. What they took away from halo 3 was the non-show off; im try to kill this person gameplay. Notice in reach how you do some fancy twirl with your pistol before getting your reticle aka aimer back. This adds additional time to that reset.... more time to shoot you while your flipping your weopon or tossing it back into your hands rather than just grabbing it. I keep shooting then finish them off with a melee, When he melees I've already put some bullets into him, so while he is reseting I knock his shields down, then a melee finishes the job. Shields recharge and its time to mop ip someone else.