Crates and barrels are often cited as being indicative of unoriginality. The point at which the player first sees a crate or barrel is often assumed to be the point at which the game/level designers ran out of ideas. To see how various games rate in this respect, see Crate Review System, from which the Start to Crate rating system originated, and this article, which applies the system to various well-known Doom level sets.
The barrels from Doom?!! Pinch me!
And the crates from HL2? I'm dreaming...
Crates and barrels are often cited as being indicative of unoriginality. The point at which the player first sees a crate or barrel is often assumed to be the point at which the game/level designers ran out of ideas. To see how various games rate in this respect, see Crate Review System, from which the Start to Crate rating system originated, and this article, which applies the system to various well-known Doom level sets.