History Main / CrateExpectations

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/SeriousSamTheSecondEncounter'', in which Sam's starship crash-lands after being hit by a crate transport ship - not a ship designed to transport crates, but a transport ''made out of wooden crates''. The player can find the crashed crate-bus as an EasterEgg a little later into the first level, which will cause Sam to announce [[LampshadeHanging how much he hates crates]]. Aside from using crates as a joke, the games are surprisingly barren of them otherwise, and Old Man Murray, the website that coined the term Start to Crate, was one of Croteam's few vocal supporters during the game's development. Early in ''First Encounter'', there is a secret area containing a massive 'pyramid' made of crates. ''Serious Sam II'' plays it straight with wooden and metal crates found in lots of places and majority of them containing an item or a monster.

Outside of video games, films, TV shows and animation also use crates. TheSyndicate or LaResistance use crates for their {{Venturous Smuggler}}s to hide illegal weapons, BlackMarket goods, and items that FellOffTheBackOfATruck. They also appear in military and science fiction settings where our heroes are on an expedition; any BleakBorderBase, remote Antarctic facility, or desolate planet's base will have crates scattered around. Some crates may hold a mysterious, priceless {{MacGuffin}}, and everyone may be searching for that one crate. In action movies, crates are an inexpensive set dressing for the obligatory {{Abandoned Warehouse}} chase, fight and shootout sequences.

Outside of video games, films, TV shows and animation also use crates. They are an inexpensive set dressing to convert an AbandonedWarehouse into a lair for TheSyndicate or LaResistance to use for their {{Venturous Smuggler}}s to hide illegal weapons, BlackMarket goods, and items that FellOffTheBackOfATruck. They also appear in military and science fiction settings where our heroes are on an expedition; any BleakBorderBase, remote Antarctic facility, or desolate planet's base will have crates scattered around. Some crates may hold a mysterious, priceless {{MacGuffin}}, and everyone may be searching for that one crate.

Outside of video games, films, TV shows and animation also use crates. They are an inexpensive set dressing to convert an AbandonedWarehouse into a lair for TheSyndicate or LaResistance to use for their {{Venturous Smuggler}}s to hide illegal weapons, BlackMarket goods, and items that FellOffTheBackOfATruck. They also appear in military and science fiction settings where our heroes are on an expedition; any BleakBorderBase or remote Antarctic facility will have crates scattered around. Some crates may hold a mysterious, priceless {{MacGuffin}}, and everyone may be searching for that one crate.

Outside of video games, films, TV shows and animation also use crates. They are an inexpensive set dressing to convert an AbandonedWarehouse into a lair for TheSyndicate or LaResistance to use for their {{Venturous Smuggler}}s to hide illegal weapons, BlackMarket goods, and items that FellOffTheBackOfATruck. They also appear in military and science fiction settings where our heroes are on an expedition. Some crates may hold a mysterious, priceless {{MacGuffin}}, and everyone may be searching for that one crate.

* ''Thunder Fox'' is full of wooden crates, which can be destroyed for points, and metal crates, which are indestructible.

* ''Burning Fight'' includes crates, whose name on the StatusLine is "Wooden Box."

* ''The Jetsons: Cogswell's Caper'' justifies this by setting its first level in a "Packing Factory," but crates are prevalent throughout the game, and throwing them is your principal attack.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series features wooden crates littered throughout its single-player campaigns. They can be destroyed and may contain Power Eggs or other collectables, but there's not much more to say about their usage in the series -- until ''VideoGame/Splatoon2: Octo Expansion'' came along with all kinds of creative applications for this gaming staple. One level might task you with carefully destroying only the correct crates to match a three-dimensional shape, while another asks you to set off a chain reaction that destroys a tower of crates using only a single well-placed shot, and still others use crates as the ''floor'', forcing you to mind where you're shooting [[BossArenaUrgency lest you run out of footing]]. The ''Octo Expansion'' also introduces a new variation of special "target" crates, which usually appear in tests where the ultimate objective is to destroy a certain number of them.

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* The ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' series features several crates, mostly empty, although some have items. As of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', the ones containing stuff have a distinct appearance (and are much smaller), and both kinds (among other items) can also be [[WreakingHavok thrown at enemies with the Gravity Gun]], not to mention be used as platforms to float on. Thanks, Source engine!\\
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''Half-Life'''s copious amounts of crates make sense, considering the game's signature weapon is a crowbar. Which you use to ''bludgeon'' the crates open, Gordon being a busy man. Interestingly, ''Half-Life 2'' also features a lot of pallets, but the crates are never actually placed ''on'' the pallets - suggesting the designers realize crates and pallets have something to do with each other, but aren't familiar with their exact relationship.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' has towering piles of crates MadeOfExplodium. Sometimes there are guns inside. Special mention goes to the crate on the penultimate level which holds a smaller crate, which breaks open to reveal an even smaller crate, and that one can then be broken to find an even ''smaller'' crate, and ''in turn'' that one [[SerialEscalation holds a TV that's larger than the previous crate itself, and inside the TV is the only pair of dual-wieldable assault rifles in the entire game]].
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' features both supply crates and climbable crates, with some of the latter becoming useful only later in the game, depending upon how you choose your nano-augmentations. Go for extra arm strength, and you can move and position crates that would otherwise be too heavy to lift. Augment your legs, and you can leap onto crates that would otherwise be [[InsurmountableWaistHighFence too high to climb]].
* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' features crates and boxes of various sizes throughout the game, though they're all empty. They can be very useful as makeshift walkways, staircases, and for blocking the view of security cameras and guards while hacking. If you upgrade your arm prosthesis, you can even toss heavy ones to take out enemies.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen'' adds crates everywhere after the original game lacked them. Several have weapons and ammo in them, often being the only way of acquiring ammo for some weapons (most commonly the shotgun, which enemies don't use outside of the expansion), but after the first chapter a lot of them just explode and kill you if you try to knife them open.

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* A fair few ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' through to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' have crates. In ''Sonic Adventure 2'' you can get power ups to be able to break metal crates, and in VideoGame/SonicHeroes only the power formation can break the metal crates. ''Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)'' is the worst offender though as they are everywhere, usually used for Silver's physics puzzles. The crates are even 200 years in the future, in Crisis City and Flame Core, both ravaged by Iblis's flames. Made even funnier when objects such as robots and ancient stone towers can be taken down with a simple wooden crate. Even ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' had some. There were a few at the very beginning of Red Mountain, though they weren't really used for anything other than somewhere to put a couple of [[MechaMook robot monkeys]].

* ''{{Videogame/Iji}}'' has crates that are mostly just used for cover. They can be broken, but, as the beginning tutorial explicitly states, there's never anything in them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, crates appear early and often as pushable and pullable stepping stones for the Warners.

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* ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn Of War 2]]'' has crates that if shot at with highly penetrating and explosive bolts by the heroes reveal supplies of bombs, grenades, mines and other munition.

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* Common in ''[[VideoGame/TalesSeries Tales]]'' games. Crates are used to make paths, [[BlockPuzzle press buttons]], destroy obstacles, etc. Typical video game stuff. There are also mini-game warehouses that have you re-arrange crates.

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* In ''{{VideoGame/Unturned}}'', crates are not as common as in other games. However there are a still a few inexplicable crates in the sparse towns of PEI. Rewarding Vandalism is averted as the crates are unbreakable. The crate is the first and simplest container a player can craft, so it's up to you to fill the world with wooden boxes of loot.

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* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'' (from the LetsPlay):
-->Also, what is this bullshit right here? Are you ser-- there are crates to break even in Hell? Really?
-->It's how they get the souls around. An unholy soul-shipping company.

* The second ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForce'' game features a secret area with a Boss Monster. Made of crates.

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/SeriousSamTheSecondEncounter'', in which Sam's starship crash-lands after being hit by a crate transport ship. Later on, the player can find the crashed crate-bus as an EasterEgg in the first level, which will cause Sam to announce [[LampshadeHanging how much he hates crates]]. Aside from using crates as a joke, the games are suprisingly barren of them otherwise, and Old Man Murray, the website that coined the term Start to Crate, was one of Croteam's few vocal supporters during the game's development. Early in First Encounter, there is a secret area containing a massive 'pyramid' made of crates. ''Serious Sam II'' plays it straight with wooden and metal crates found in lots of places and majority of them containing an item or a monster.

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* ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye 007]]'' has towering piles of crates MadeOfExplodium. Sometimes there were guns inside. Usually it was way fun blowing them. But if you must [[EscortMission escort]] someone...
** Special mention goes to the crate on the penultimate level which holds a smaller crate... which breaks open to reveal an even smaller crate... which can then be broken to find an even ''smaller'' crate... [[SerialEscalation which holds a TV that's larger than the previous crate itself... and inside the TV is the only pair of dual-wieldable assault rifles in the entire game.]]

** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' features crates and boxes of various sizes throughout the game, though they're all empty. They can be very useful as makeshift walkways, staircases, and for blocking the view of security cameras and guards while hacking. If you upgrade your arm prosthesis, you can even toss heavy ones to take out enemies.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', crates, barrels, urns, and all sorts of other containers are found throughout the game. They can contain anything from low-end VendorTrash to consumables to items of real value and weapons and armor. Unlike most examples, they aren't breakable, cannot be moved, and are rarely used as climbing platforms. In fact, the game doesn't give you time to orient yourself before you see your first crate; you wake up in a ship's cargo hold. The game also [[ButThouMust But Thou Musts]] you into interacting with a barrel just a few minutes later during character creation.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 its sequel]] both have crates in several levels, which can be broken up with spin attacks or fireballs (via Fire Mario). In the second, there are two minigames in which he uses fireballs to break crates under a time limit.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 its sequel]] both have crates in several levels, which can be broken up with spin attacks or fireballs (via Fire Mario). In the first game, there are two minigames in which Mario has to detonate them with bombs. In the second, he uses fireballs instead.

* ''VideoGame/TinyHandsAdventure'': There are plenty of crates in each level for [[PlayerCharacter Borti]] to break. Some contain meat, some are empty. The green ones contain extra lives, and the yellow ones explode.

* ''VideoGame/TinyHandsAdventure'': There are plenty of crates in each level for [[PlayerCharacter Borti]] to break. Some contain meat, some are empty. The green ones contain extra lives, and the yellow ones explode.