Classic Lucasfilm characters unlockable in Mercenaries

Besides its ample near-future combat and open-ended structure, one of the things reviewers praised Mercenaries for was its trio of strong lead characters. Today, the publisher announced there are two more playable characters hidden in the game: iconic characters taken from the hit films of LucasArts' parent company, Lucasfilm.

By accomplishing certain tasks, players can unlock and play as either Indiana Jones, hero of the eponymous adventure movies, or Han Solo, scoundrel-hero of the original Star Wars trilogy. In all six films of the two series, both characters were played by Harrison Ford. LucasArts did not say whether the characters would features samples of Ford's voice.

To unlock Jones in the PlayStation 2 version and Solo in the Xbox version, players must collect 20 "national treasures," which are bonus items much like the hidden packages in Grand Theft Auto III. Players can then select the two characters using the in-game PDA interface. However, for PlayStation 2 users to unlock Solo and for Xbox users to unlock Jones, they must perform a different task, which LucasArts has not identified...yet.

For more on Mercenaries, read GameSpot's full review of the game. To see Jones and/or Solo in action, check out the exclusive screens above or the exclusive movies below.