Well, they tend to flare up more, especially if they have build-up on the "flavor bars" (I think of them more as heat deflectors) or the floor, which could be likely. And depending on what you are cooking, some wood chips in a loose foil pouch with a couple slits poked in could be nice to throw directly on a burner to add a little smoke for flavor. Otherwise you are relying on the juice hitting the heat deflectors for smoke and flavor. Assuming it's not an ancient grill using lava rocks, lol.
On the plus side, they warm up quickly and you can cook a lot of varied foods, going from indirect heat to direct heat with the turn of a knob, so you can really load it up and if you don't like your heat, change it without fussing with charcoal. They also tend to have hot spots and cold spots. When you light it, try to see which side is hotter. Typically the side away from the gas inlet, or last burner in line, runs hotter. And that can work to your advantage, too.
That said, I grill almost exclusively on a gas grill and have no problem switching to charcoal a few times a year. That's why I just bought a little Weber. If you are fairly adept at grilling, it should be even easier going the other way.
And as an observation, although I have seen exceptions, yes, that was my disclaimer, people who cook on a gas grill tend to cook the whole dinner outside. People who use charcoal tend to cook the main course outside. Maybe those folks don't grill often enough though to know how to play with their heat source.