A new Star Trek Online update is just around the corner, and it's bringing back everyone's favorite character. Wil Wheaton is set to make a return as Wesley Crusher, or rather the Mirror Universe version of Wesley Crusher, and it'll be up to you to stop him.
Why is Wesley Crusher in this new Star Trek Online update?
Well, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? The new Star Trek Online update, titled Ascension, launches next week and continues the game's Mirror Universe arc. It'll introduce Wheaton into the game as Emperor Wesley Crusher, leader of the Terran Empire, as well as Star Trek: Discovery's Captain Killy and Deep Space Nine's Admiral Leeta.
Alongside Killy and Leeta, you'll need to battle Wheaton's Emperor Crusher, who is leading Terran incursions into the Prime Universe. The Terrans are aiming to take control of The Other, the Mirror version of powerful entity V'ger, with Mirror Crusher at the helm, and it's up to you and the dashing captain and admiral at your side to take him down.
This will mark Wil Wheaton's first appearance in a Star Trek video game; he hasn't been in any of the classic titles from the series, even the ones that revolved largely around The Next Generation, where Wesley Crusher made his dubious mark. Given fan response to Crusher's character, it's rather understandable.
Wesley Crusher has not exactly been well-received by the Star Trek fandom. Wheaton's reputation has grown significantly in recent years, and he's generally regarded as a pretty cool dude nowadays, but Crusher's "Gary Stu" tendencies and repeated saving of the ship, especially throughout The Next Generation's first season, have earned him a very negative reputation as a character. It marks a second recent return for Wheton to Star Trek, following his appearance in Season 2 of Star Trek Picard.
It reached the point where Wheaton himself was being attacked and criticized for the role, and given how young he was at the time, he's spoken about how hurtful that criticism was for him. Hopefully, fans can distance Wheaton himself from Emperor Wesley Crusher in this new Star Trek Online update, even if the character is still as annoying as he ever was (sorry, Wil).
When does the new Star Trek Online update go live?
This Star Trek Online update launches on September 13th, so make sure you're ready to update your game this coming Tuesday. It's not just adding Crusher, either; there's also a new five-player Task Force Operation in the form of Storm Chasers, as well as a new system that lets you upgrade bridge officers. We'll learn more when the update goes live on Tuesday.
You can check out Star Trek Online right now on PC via Steam. It's free-to-play, so if you're a Trek fan, what are you waiting for? The game is also available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it's playable on both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S thanks to the magic of backwards compatibility. It may not quite be Mike Bithell's dream Star Trek game, but it's worth a shot if you're a fan of the show.
