None of the roads seemed particularly safe to me. :V
Go North if you want to be eviscarated by Deathclaws.
Go South if you want to be shot to bits by various raiders or eaten by ants.
Me: But what if I climb over this mountai-
Game: Can't let you do that.
Not quite sure which mountain you're thinking about, but I tried going straight to New Vegas - Radscorpions.
And Black Mountain has Nightkin.
Then there's Sloan/Quarry Junction in the way either way.
So yeah, your choice:
-Road with Cazadores/Deathclaws
-Road with Geckos and Raiders
-Offroad, with Geckos/Cazadores/Deathclaws/Radscorpions/Raiders/BoS/NCR/Legion/Anything
And that's not even mentioning that the area around New Vegas has tons of raiders as well.
About NV's (main) story:
"You get things done. I like you. Join me or I hate you." or "You failed to get something done. Correct it. Join me or I hate you."
There's no option to say "Fuck it, I did my job. I'm a courier. You want a package delivered, pay me. Otherwise, I'm gone."
And New Vegas really doesn't look like it's worth anything. It feels... cramped, but empty. The lights work, but they're not at all impressive. As a whole, it just feels small. I know it's mostly because of consoles that they had to reduce people count and break up NV into even smaller parts (I believe the whole of Freeside was one area, there's a mod that 'restores' that), but this way it's all unimpressive.
There's whole Mojave/West is at stake thing, but you really don't get a feel for what all that entails. At least I didn't come across much that details what there actually is out there. Is the fate of millions at hand? How do they live? How much will be lost to the Legion if they win at the dam?
It all feels vague, distant and meaningless, but still gets forced on you.
FO3 did the involvement a bit better. You're thrown out a Vault and have nothing to do but try and find your father. The whole Project Purity thing is quite far-fetched, but during your travels you actually see the Wasteland you can change. The prospect is bringing water back. All those empty places could be filled with plants if this goes well! It's not a change of who governs empty plots, but what lives in the Wasteland. Also, it's your father and your mother's greatest dream and accomplishment. Might as well do it for that (or go beyond and go for destroying most life, but purifying life).
Actually, in this way, I think FO4 might work. It's pretty good that you know (or can dictate) the backstory of the main character, not just get thrown into the body of a man with an unknown backstory who knows things or doesn't, but you have no idea what's going on.