The Best of Big Download: November 2 - 8

The first full week of November 2009 kept us at Big Download on our toes with a ton of news, downloads, and special features. As usual, we take some time to smell the roses and look back at the past week. Please, won't you join us?

Exclusive features

• Unreal Development Kit: We were all over the release of Epic Games' free version of Unreal Engine 3 with a feature on the UDK itself and interviews with the teams behind the first two free UDK games; Whizzle and The Ball.

• Reviews: We give our final verdicts for Borderlands, Torchlight, AI War: Fleet Command and Shattered Horizon

• Interviews: We had interviews with the CEO of the gaming PC maker Maingear and the lead designer behind Shattered Horizon.

• Serious Sam HD Preview: We go hands-on with a near final version of Croteam's FPS remake.

• Mac Monday: Our look at Mac-based games checks out two titles: Trapped: The Abduction and Harvest: Massive Encounter.

• Boot Disk: Our look at retro games checks out the classic space strategy title Master of Orion II.

• Big Ideas: Our regular look at game themes examines what people's perceptions are on beauty in a game.

• All You Need To Know: Our 411 feature gives you everything you need to know about Blizzard's upcoming Diablo III.

• Playing For Free: Our weekly look at online free-to-play games has our opinion on CrimeCraft which recently turned into a free-to-play game.

• Freeware Friday: Don't turn out the lights. This week's column on free PC games checks out the super-spooky Au Sable.

• Contest: You still have some time to win one of three Steam download codes for Shattered Horizon.

Downloads

• Unreal Development Kit: Make your own stand alone Unreal Engine 3 game with this newly released tool from Epic Games.

• UDK Games: Check out three stand alone free games made via the UDK. Whizzle, The Ball and Prometheus.

• Gratuitous Space Battles Demo: Check out this new space strategy-action game from indie developer Positech.

• Dark Salvation Demo: Go old school with this demo for the recently released indie first person shooter.

• Torchlight 1.12 patch-demo: If you got the recent action-RPG from Runic Games, this is the latest patch. It also acts as a free two hour time limit demo.

• Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Skirmish DLC-Patch: This updates Codemasters' recent military shooter with not only a patch but four new multiplayer maps and two missions.

• Dragon Age: Origins patch: Update your copy of BioWare's new RPG to the latest version. Also the game's toolset is now available to download.

• Darkest of Days patch: Update to the latest version of the recent FPS from Phantom EFX. You can also download the game's level editor as well.

• Left For Dead Dead Before Dawn mod: This mod for the first Left 4 Dead game recreates the mall in the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake.

News

• Sony Online to release Magic: The Gathering Tactics game for PC

• It's a Team Fortress 2-Left 4 Dead 2 crossover (sort of)

• Warren Spector tried (and failed) to buy the Deus Ex franchise

• Smoking Gun Interactive launches teaser comic for upcoming game

• Diagnosis Murder game announced (and no we are not kidding)

• Battlefield devs keep hammering on Modern Warfare 2's lack of dedicated servers

• REO Speedwagon casual game announced (again, we aren't joking)

• Issues with DLC downloads for Dragon Age: Origins reported

• Torchlight coming to retail stores in early January

• Battlefield Bad Company 2 beta coming to the PC in December

• StarCraft II targeted for first half 2010 release; still no word on beta launch date

• Direct2Drive won't sell Modern Warfare 2; indirectly blames Steam

• No dedicated servers for Rage multiplayer?

• Developer deliberately sent its PC game to pirate sites