Quote Originally Posted by Gnoman View Post
I've got too much time in the two games to really test this, but even on my first playthrough of 2 I don't remember having this problem. I distinctly remember being disappointed because the Trials and the first town made it seem like weapons were going to be more limited and thus melee would be more viable, but that didn't last long. The shop in the Den (the infamous one where children steal from you on entering) has a selection of firearms and ammunition available, and that's early. Granted it is a bit annoying to shop there if you don't blow the children up, but it works.
Disclaimer: I replay Fallout 2 regularly on absolutely unreasonable settings (hard, ironman and no Gifted trait).

I can vouch for the fact that you are liable to be absolutely eviscerated by an overscaled random encounter very early in the game, and I think that's genuinely the biggest obstacle, especially to new players. The Den <-> Vault City route is particularly infamous for this and I don't leave town without picking up a lot of Psycho or tagging Sneak to be able to survive an encounter against 6-8 bandits armed with spears, submachineguns, and hunting rifles. Granted, the loot pays back for the Psycho, but still.

I can also, in that same breath, vouch for melee being plenty viable (my last character killed everyone in The Den's Slavers' Compound with a Combat Knife at level 5).