Fallout had 3 pre-made builds. Fallout didn't need them, because you couldn't make a character that had trouble beating the game if you tried. Pick guns, and you win eventually. This game definitely does need to give some guidance in character creation.
I'd say the game's difficulty is like dwarf fortress. "easy with a difficulty cliff" That is if you know all the rules, mechanics, quirks, you know what is coming up, you can just breeze through the game with hardly a reload. But people can make virtually unwinnable characters that are perfectly logical!
Average stats character? Dead. Crossbows and grenades with nothing else (like the cover
)? Pulverized. Hammer without agility? Sitting duck.
Light armor guns without dex or sniper feats? Hah!
There's a thread in the forum just now with someone who made a "max dodge, evasion, melee, crafting skills build" Looks great on paper to anyone starting up a game. I seriously doubt this character can get past balor or the warehouse quests, not to mention any part of the game with multiple stunners/immobilizers. No stealth with light armor? No subterfuge on dex? No throwing? He's toast man. And not powdered toast man. And it's not really his fault.
I think it's great that you have the freedom to make any character you want, but if the game is going to make characters that can't realistically finish the game despite having a maxed combat skill, I think there either needs to be guidance in character creation, or more difficulty levels while making normal even easier and newbie friendly. So people can get one play through to get a feel for how the game plays before doing some serious build creation.
And it's not like you have to babysit them and pick all the feats they would need to pick, but a few simple builds with explanations of why they work would be nice, giving the initial attributes and initial skills, and explanations for why those skills are good in case they want to deviate from the premade build. I think fallout had the right idea here: force a build at start, but allow you to rip it apart in character creation. They don't even have to be "good" just not "fatally flawed" if you know what I mean.
Edit: On that note, it might ne nice to give people a very poor quality tactival vest upon saving newton. Something more experienced players would just toss in the trash.