A gas gun will kick less if the stocks are equal. The two piece stocks do reduce recoil to the shoulder, but I hate them. A gas gun will also usually handle a wider range of ammo reliably. The designs these days have a lot of automatic adjustment built in. With the right loads, the inertia guns do run clean and are reliable as the devil, but I do not like the feel of them. I have seen a lot more than one Super Black Eagle that would not cycle lighter loads, too.
A lot of the young people have bought whole hog into the Benelli marketing strategy - tough guys, beat snakes off, yada, yada. I am not faulting them or Benelli; there is nothing wrong with their guns at all. The new Browning is not our grandaddy's Auto 5, it is an inertia design. If you want inertia and 3-1/2" capability I would recommend the Franchi Intensity. Beretta owns Benelli and Franchi and from what I have seen you get everything but the Benelli name for a lot less money. I think it looks better too, but that's just me. Only know one guy with one, but he does love it. Lots of people are raving about the Franchi Affinity which is the same basic gun in 3".