I pre-ordered it Sunday and I'm wondering if it's worth it or not.  I typically don't have problems with 4 to 6 hour games but when it's being said that there's no replay value, I feel as though there's something I could avoid.

I'm going to be upset if Platinum releases 2 out of 4 of their games with no replay value.  -Stares at his copy of Madworld-

I was wondering the same thing today and I stumbled upon this today:

Vanquish Campaign Length Confirmed
October 18th, 2010

This month's Game Informer Magazine featured a review of Vanquish.  In that review the editor's claimed the game's campaign could be beaten in less then 4 hours.  Since this issue was released, there has been a lot of speculation as to how true this really is. 

So much speculation in fact that Platinum Games themselves came out and commented on this by saying that, "GameInformer: 'Don't be surprised if you finish your first playthrough in four hours.' Really? Because it would surprise the hell out of us.", followed shortly by, "Even in Casual Auto it doesn't make sense, nor is it indicative of how long a normal gamer's playthrough would take.". 

Well, thanks to user "IllISTGaMer" for sending this screenshot of his finished game.  Take a look at the screenshot below to see just how long this game really is.

While the quality of the screenshot certainly isn't the best, it's clear that the entire game took him 3 hours 42 minutes and 3 seconds.  According to him, this includes the final credit stage which is roughly 10 minutes.  He also noted that he played through it on Normal difficulty, and at the end of the game unlocked a mode called "God Hard".

So there you have it.  It's now confirmed.  The game can easily be beaten in less than 4 hours on the first playthrough.  What are you going to "Tweet" about on this one Platinum Games?

Source: http://www.strengthgamer.com/News.php#Vanquish_Campaign_Length_Confirmed

@X-X

Crap...

I'm hoping that guy is a godly player...

well you could still go after some achievements.

The list is pretty good.

Also I heard that while it's a short game, it's fun to play the levels multiple times. Not many games have that.

Damn thats short :O

Hey, it's better than Demon's Souls which only lasts one hour.

that's the good thing about arcade like games. Always fun to play once in a while.

Though I do find it disappointing that this game doesn't have an optional co-op mode. It just looks perfect for it.

As far as I know the game doesn't take into account the time you spend watching cutscenes or retrying when you die. I think I read somewhere that the cutscenes alone are 3 hours long in total.

Also, this game has Easy, Normal, Hard and God Hard modes... that alone means 4 replays :P.

I think there are some challenges, too... the second Demo that was released on Japan's PSN was one of the challenges, so I'd expect that there are going to be more in the final game.

By the way, Bayonetta is a 3 hours game (you need to finish the game in less than 3 hours to get an item :P). So I guess Vanquish is longer :P

You have henceforth been demoted to a bargain bin game. I will not support this shenanigans.

Bayonetta may be finished in 3 hours, but no one does that on the first playthrough. That's not the case here, Vanquish isn't longer.