Speaking with GameTrailers TV about Duke Nukem Forever, Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford offhandedly mentioned that the game’s single player campaign, on average, takes between 16 and 18 hours to complete. Looks like they weren’t lying when they said it would be like three Call of Duty titles combined.

Generating a little more hype for the game, Pitchford went on to detail a few select sequences including one that sees Nukem shrunk down to miniature size and riding around on a toy car. Another sequence, Pitchford was a little less forthcoming about, and let’s just say it takes the urination sequence from Duke’s past to a whole new level. It’s good to see that Gearbox is keeping in line with gamers’ (that can remember) expectations that a Duke Nukem game should first and foremost be about having a great time.

Thinking about a 16 to 18 hour campaign brings up questions of just how much stuff each subsequent attempt at development created. If Gearbox took over a hodge podge of sequences and did their best to give them some semblance of continuity, should they have maybe left a couple hours on the cutting room floor? If some of the levels seen in demos, trailers, and highlighted by various Gearbox creative people are any indication, then the answer is no.

Over a decade in the making, Duke Nukem Forever is going to have some huge shoes to fill if it wants to make up for broken promise after promise. If the title can creatively blend Nukem’s penchant for immature body humor with the conventions gamers have come to expect from competent first person shooters, than all can be forgotten — maybe not forgiven.

It’s hard not to applaud developer Gearbox, a company that was willing to step in where very few would dare, and resurrect the one title gamers thought they would never see. With hopefully huge plans in store for future iterations of the blonde lothario in mind, Gearbox can make a very huge statement with Forever.

Do you think that a 16 to 18 hour campaign is too long for Duke Nukem Forever, a title that should be a silly first person shooter romp? What other crazy scenarios would you like to see Nukem get himself involved in?

Duke Nukem Forever releases May 3, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Source: GameTrailers