I decided to play for about half an hour before bed..... 4 and a half hours later:
I've gotta get a posse together, only thing is they need convincing and I'm just a little shy in most aspects of what they want.  I bought a bunch of ability boosting mags from the Saloon only to find that they are short term blasts.... wasted them all.  Thankfully most mailboxes have these mags in them from what i can tell..... all but the last 1 i need.  Time to grind.
Well that cross off in the distance is calling out to me to explore..... 2 hours later (hardcore mode btw).. i am limping away from a hotel with 2 bars of life left, 2 broken arms, head and leg, after a battle with 12+ guys, having only survived by tossing obnoxious amounts of dynamite around a corner and laying down some mines as i covered my retreat to heal.
 I fast travel back to the quest point and make a beeline to the doctors... oh look i missed a mailbox.... that contains the 1 magazine i was missing.
 Fun was had... it's good old Fallout / Oblivion wandering action.

First hours have been good.  Got to Primm, was disappointed you couldn't steal Vance's gun from Vikki and Vance casino.  I just need to find a good place to store stuff.  I was thinking about the Doc's place in Goodsprings, I should probably put something in a chest and wait a lot to test it.  I wonder how long until they give me a house or something like that.  Anyone test that yet?
 
Edit:
Tested a footlocker in Doc's house.  Waited a could days, fast traveled a couple times.  I'm gonna assume that is a safe place to store things.

" First hours have been good.  Got to Primm, was disappointed you couldn't steal Vance's gun from Vikki and Vance casino.  I just need to find a good place to store stuff.  I was thinking about the Doc's place in Goodsprings, I should probably put something in a chest and wait a lot to test it.  I wonder how long until they give me a house or something like that.  Anyone test that yet? "

So far it's great.  I did NOT play on hardcore mode because I don't hate myself.  The story is very interesting.  It starts off with a bang and it's hard to stop playing, unlike Fallout 3... where you had to be born first, and then crawl around a baby crib, and go through your early years before you could even leave the vault (but Liam Neeson is great).  I didn't get into Fallout 3, but this game is just way more interesting, and the wasteland seems more active.  There's all these factions fighting, it's pretty neat.

Pretty good, except for when I thought I hit a game breaking glitch on one of the first missions. I was trying to drive the gang members out of Goodsprings, and two of them ended up completely frozen in place. I could walk up to them, they would turn to face me but not shoot at me, and when I tried to shoot them, they didn't take any damage. Luckily, walking in and out of a nearby building fixed it.

It's amazing, played around 8 hours if steam is correct, let's just say that come fly with me was amazing and I am a member of the kings.
 
also I found this sweet unique plasma rifle in the retconn or whatever's HQ.