james dyer of empire magazine gave the film 4 stars, saying "the ultimate star wars fan film, it's short on whimsy but when it gets going there's enough risk-taking and spectacle to bode well for future standalones". amy nicholson of mtv gave the film a c-, saying "audiences once packed theaters to gawk at the future; now, it's to soak in the past. the emphasis is on packing in as much nostalgia as possible and tersely editing it together to resemble a film". ign's eric goldman gave the film a 9/10, stating "the film offers a remarkable recreation of the original star wars' world, while exploring this universe from a different, edgier perspective than is the norm". matthew pejkovic of matt's movie reviews scored the film a 4/5, saying "earns its intergalactic stripes as a star wars spin-off of visual gumption and gritty action filmmaking, securing its place as the glue between trilogies in this ever expanding space saga". mark dujsik of mark reviews movies gave the film a 2/4, stating "we're used to the characters in this series existing primarily as archetypes. the characters here, though, barely qualify as archetypes".