3D Realms' George Broussard updated this .plan with the latest on Max Payne, the hard-boiled third-person action game nearing completion at Remedy Entertainment. George says the game is close to feature freeze, that a demo will likely be available a few weeks after the game's release, press coverage is to be ramped up, and there are details on the game's packaging. Here's an excerpt from the full .plan update:

Some 4th of July Max Payne news bits for you all.

* The game is essentially done. It's close to a final release candidate and feature freeze (hopefully later this week). From there it will be bug/compatability fixes only. We're signed off on mouse pads, boxes and everything except the manual (which should be done Friday/Saturday). At that point we just play test and wait on the gold CD.

One area of focus now is tweaking the harder skill levels that unlock after you beat the game, including New York Minute. In NYM, you start with time on a clock and it counts down. Every time you kill a guy you get more time. If the timer hits zero you die. It's a really, really fun way to play the game after beating it the first time.

* Yes, there will be a demo. I'd imagine it will be out a couple of weeks after Max hits store shelves.

* Gathering of Developers should announce a street date for Max soon. It's still "when it's done", but as I said above, it's basically done except for bugs and that's the only thing that can hold it back. We're fairly confident we'll hit very close to the street date due to how stable the game has been for the last month.