To be honest, Kane and Lynch Dead Men didn't make a lasting impact on me. It was an alright game, but nothing that really stood out. However, I had heard so many great things about the sequel, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, especially in terms of its aesthetics and storytelling. While I wouldn't call it a flawless masterpiece, it definitely had its own unique appeal. So, despite finding the original forgettable, I still decided to give it a shot. I played Kane and Lynch Dead Men simply because I wanted to fully play the first game for the sake of being able to move on to Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. It was all about setting the stage and understanding the context for the sequel that had captured my interest.

The story is Kane being broken out of a prison bus by the The7 and how they want Kane to commit 1 last heist or they'll kill his wife and daughter, and they have Lynch monitor and help Kane but reporting back to them if he tries anything.
Kane does the heist however the item had been stolen from the bank vault putting Kane in a bad position. Kane & Lynch are taken to a construction site to an unmarked dug grave, where Kane's daughter and Wife are also brought to the construction site, and Kane's wife is killed while his daughter is scarred for life seeing her Mother killed in front of her.

As the game progressed Kane and Lynch plan on killing all members of The7 for killing Kane's wife, and travel to Venezuela to kill The7 there, and this is where the game feel weird as it abruptly shifts to war setting with Kane and Lynch fighting in the war against the Venezuelan government. Which leads to Kane & Lynch finding one of the members of The7 who agrees to help Kane find the rest of The7 on a remote island since they now have Kane's Daughter kidnapped.

The game has Kane & Lynch go to the Island and kill the remaining members of the Seven however at the end Kane has to make a decision to leave via the Helicopter or to help Lynch rescue their men who helped them fight and get this far.
The sequel Dog Days treats both endings as canon, as if there was 3rd possibility of doing both, but mainly it's agreed the Helicopter ending where Kane leaves with his daughter is canon.

Gameplay wise it's fine, it uses the combat 3rd person shooter from HITMAN, and in general is fine enough and perfectly paced. The game is a bit forgettable, unlike it's sequel which barely acknowledges this game say for a mere mention confirming the Helicopter ending being canon.
I think the only part that's really annoying is with the giant Truck boss during the construction site level, but in general it's the only real annoying part. LEGIT THIS PART TAKES TOO LONG BECAUSE OF THE AIMING BEING TOO SLOW TO LOCK ON THE DAMN DRIVER. LEGIT YOU WILL PROBABLY RAGE AT THIS PART.

The game is fine enough, I don't think it's anything amazing, and it certainly isn't needed in playing the more well regarded sequel. On Xbox 360 you might have the incentive to play on tougher difficulties, and replaying for Achievements, but on PS3 you can just one-and-done it since it was apart of the era before Trophies were added to PS3.

Would I recommend it? If you care to play the first game for the sake of playing 2 DOG DAYS, then yeah sure. But if you're someone who wants a compelling story and Esthetic, I say skip this and play 2 only, 2 is really good.

thanks for reading.