Two targets in a Jak 3 gun course.
Some missions and mini-games involve gun course training in Jak II and Jak 3. They involve shooting targets with different Morph Gun mods within a confined shooting range. While gun course training is initially used for game missions, they may be revisited afterward to earn nine Precursor orbs in total per course (with the exception of the Ratchet and Clank courses).
How to play[]
| Game | Targets |
|---|---|
| Jak II | Normal target (blue-colored) |
| Bonus target (gold-colored) | |
| Large target (requires two hits) | |
| Heavy-duty target (requires Peace Maker) | |
| Jak 3 | Normal target (blue-colored) |
| Bonus target (gold-colored) | |
| Offensive target (fires weapon) | |
| Spydroid target (self detonates) | |
| Large target (requires two hits) |
To select a course, go up to one of the doors and press the respective buttons. Once a course is selected, you will be restricted to the gun mods designated for that course (course restrictions range from a single weapon to all weapons). As you advance through the course, thin targets made out of what appears to be wood will appear out of tracks in the ground. The faster a target is hit, the more points you will earn. Sometimes golden bonus targets will appear, which may or may not be triggered by not destroying previous targets fast enough (thereby giving you a second opportunity to earn enough points for the course). You can use your weapon or a melee attack to destroy targets.
Conversely, there are "civvie targets". Hitting these will subtract points from your current score. Crates are also placed throughout the course which will replenish your ammunition. Dark Jak and Light Jak are not available. In order to rack up a high score in these gun courses, it is imperative to have liberal use of the Morph Gun and knowledge of the targets' patterns beforehand. Not to mention you can even press the select button on your controller to pause the game. This gives you time to think about where to walk and which targets to shoot next.
Additionally, in Jak 3 some enemies are equipped with a thin electronic film which protects them for an extra shot.
List of courses[]
| Type | Required mission | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jak II | ||||
| Scatter Gun gun course | Beat Scatter Gun course | 8000 | 10000 | 12000 |
| Blaster gun course | Beat Blaster gun course | 9000 | 11000 | 13000 |
| Vulcan Fury gun course | Protect site in Dead Town
Collect 75 precursor orbs |
11000 | 13000 | 15000 |
| Peace Maker gun course | Escort men through sewers
Collect 105 precursor orbs |
11000 | 13000 | 15000 |
| Jak 3 | ||||
| Beam Reflexor gun course | Beat gun course 1 | 12000 | 14000 | 16000 |
| Wave Concussor gun course | Beat gun course 2 | 13000 | 15000 | 17000 |
| Ratchet and Clank gun courses | Beat gun course 2
Buy for five precursor orbs each in secrets menu |
— | — | — |
Scatter Gun gun course[]
The gun course from Jak II.
The first gun course available utilizes the Scatter Gun, the advantage of which is its larger field of fire. However, this can also act as a disadvantage due to the demand of remaining within close range of your targets, which presents the hazard of shooting civilian targets. This way, you are forced to keep turning Jak left and right a little to align the angle of the gun in such a way you that won't hit a civilian on the edge of your blast.
Blaster gun course[]
The Blaster's main power is its accurate long range fire, which the course will force you to get used to as the enemies will show a distance up ahead often. The downside of the Blaster is that sometimes it can take a second or so for the gun to properly lock on to a target, which is made more annoying by the large amount of very fast enemies moving from side to side here. Usually, it is best to just stick to a spot that works well for aiming than to rush forward.
Vulcan Fury gun course[]
The Vulcan Fury has the biggest rate of fire out of all the first four morph gun weapons. Much like the Blaster, it also is adept at long-range fire. However, the fury's laser sight is very rigid and barely auto-aims. More often than not you're turning and twisting, trying to get the gun in a position so that it fires accurately at your target.
Regardless, the course will throw multiple instants where many enemies come at you at once, forcing you to go full-auto with the ammunition. It is recommended to avoid spamming the trigger button, as the fury will deplete it very fast, despite the extra ammo crates placed around the course. Lastly, when firing full automatic, the Vulcan Fury has a tendency to aim at an angle slightly overhead of that of your enemies when at a certain distance. Keep this in mind and keep moving forward when need be.
Peace Maker gun course[]
This course introduces a unique huge enemy which can only be destroyed with the Peace Maker. Aside from that, the crates will drop more rounds of ammunition than normal and you can use all the weapons you want for this course. For the most part you can use the Peace Maker just fine, it has excellent range and a slight case of auto-seeking. The fact you can load and hold a charge means you can very quickly fire it when an enemy appears. It might be better to spare your charge a second when an enemy appears however, as if more appear you can easily take these out with the added arc lightning which instantly destroys any nearby targets. But this also becomes a disadvantage, as it risks destroying nearby civilian targets too.
Beam Reflexor gun course[]
A relatively easy course that does not really introduce any new elements besides the new enemies. The Beam Reflexor's deflection ability means you might hit enemies without any effort, as the more shots you miss the more they will spread out and fill the room. As a downside this means you can also hit civilian targets without any way to stop such a thing. It is a double edged sword and to use it or not is up to you (the course can be completed just fine with just the Blaster though).
A near-guaranteed method to achieve gold on this challenge is to unlock the unlimited ammo secret and use the aerial wastelander combo (
+ 
+ 
). This will destroy enough scoring targets to achieve the goal, and hitting the citizen targets will not deduct enough points to come up short.
Wave Concussor gun course[]
The key to beating this course is to always charge the Wave Concussor, and keep charging, while destroying any single nearby enemies with melee attacks. Unleash the Wave Concussor only when multiple enemies are present, as charging it again will take a second. It is important to learn the balance between your firing area and the time at which you charge. You only actually need a full charge a few times, while often enough you can do with just a half-charged shot to take out the nearby enemies surrounding you.
Ratchet and Clank gun courses[]
Unique to these courses is a new set of character and enemy boards. The civilian characters are Ratchet (normal-sized board) and Clank (mini-sized board). The enemies are Tyhrranoids from Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. There is a small one, two medium ones (one with a silver version, which is the equivalent of the gold version in the standard courses) and a large red version which takes two hits to destroy.
The places where the targets pop up in the Ratchet & Clank courses are the exactly same as in the Scatter & Blaster courses respectively.