Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is a multiplayer team-based first-person action video game, developed as a total conversion modification on Valve proprietary Source engine.

[2] The game is a sequel to Pirates, Vikings and Knights, a modification for Valve's earlier GoldSrc engine created by three UC Berkeley students (Garrett Moore, Matt Bishop, and Kris Hauser).

These three teams, themed around Caribbean pirates, Viking warriors, and medieval knights, are distinct in classes and capabilities.

In "booty" games, teams must collect or steal treasure chests distributed across the level and bring them back to their own base to activate a countdown timer to victory.

[8] Combat in Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is achieved through melee strikes, blocking and ranged attacks.

The game's maps span a variety of realistic and unrealistic settings and environments, such as Medieval castles, Aztec temples and Caribbean islands and towns.

The eighteen classes planned for the final version of PVKII are to include for the Pirates: Skirmisher, Captain, Sharpshooter, Freebooter, 'Ealer, and Buccaneer.

[12] Skirmishers are equipped with a cutlass which they can lunge forward and impale enemies by using their special ability, a flintlock pistol and a gunpowder keg.

[13] Sharpshooters are the ranged class of the pirates, and are equipped with a long rifle for long-distance shooting, a more accurate version of the Skirmisher pistol, and a small dagger for close-quarters melee combat.

Heavy knights are slow-moving but wield a longsword and can use their special ability to do a circular spinning attack.

The reviewer also gave credit to the "colorful, vivid graphical style", stating that the team use of the Source engine created some "truly breathtaking views" on maps that were also well designed from a gameplay perspective.

In their article on Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, writer described the new classes added for this later version as exciting, as well as putting forward the view that the redesigned melee system introduced in beta 2.0 had "potential".

Stating that "the rampant silliness and absurd title hide a remarkably robust and satisfying melee game", the writer even put forward that the pirate captain's parrot was "in hot competition with [Half-Life 2's] gravity gun for best video game weapon ever".

[22] In an article published on their Planet Half-Life website on the GameSpy network, IGN echoed much of this positiveness for Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, describing the public beta 2.0 version as "well polished and balanced", noting the optimization of the game's design and the reworked melee system as effective.

Without any criticism of the game, the review closed stating "Pirates, Vikings and Knights II is here to stay and is setting up a very attractive shop".