Quote Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae View Post
You must be playing a different game than I. Either that or your definition of "freedom to explore" is skewed. No sooner than I got out of Tutorialsprings, I was jumped by no less than three cazadars and several giant radscorpions on one path, a deathclaw on another, and SO MANY invisible barriers. Countless reloads later, I finally figured out that New Vegas forces you along a linear path using the age-old method of obstruction through difficulty and invisible barriers.
With the exception of invisible barriers, I'd rather face a badass monster that I know I can return to than being locked into an extended "origin" story.

Although I've yet to feel it, I can see how the trek down the road might be predictable in subsequent playthroughs. So far I've just felt there have been so many things pulling me off the track, be it
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

a bunch of ghouls mobbing a prospector, a request to rescue a girlfriend or a crashed superfortress.


I also find the legion to be much "better" at being bad guys than the enclave were in FO3.

...and I still wish i could buy/hire/train/recruit a pack animal to carry my stuff - followers just aren't enough!