It is possible the player and other characters (a scientist can be seen standing on a crate in a screenshot) could ride on these crates to reach other areas. These are most likely related to the mechanism used for transporting crates from one location to another as seen in some images. There are also two static gears on the blocked tracks with names ( gear3 and gear4), suggesting they once moved or rotated. These include two path nodes on the catwalk and a blood decal on a wall at its entrance. The released version of the crate room contains some entities left over from its previous incarnation.
In the final version of the room, the player simply has to jump across a number of suspended boxes to travel over an open chasm. It should be noted that the early appearance of the room, especially the look and the placement of the columns, resembles the warehouse from the multiplayer map Stalkyard which was also created by Brett Johnson. The player may have been meant to adjust the position of the crates by using the buttons and then jump on them to reach a new area. The pre-release form of the hanging crates room appears to have featured a puzzle. Eli later reveals that the same message was used before by the G-Man to warn him moments after Gordon had entered the test chamber at Black Mesa. The G-Man uses Alyx Vance to relay the words "prepare for unforeseen consequences" to her father, Eli. In Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the chapter's name is alluded to. As the transit system is out of service, the player has to go through the previously inaccessible areas in Sector B, the Coolant Reservoir Facility and the attached canal system, to reach an elevator which takes him to the Administration Center in Sector D. The player must travel through the devastated remains of the labs as alien creatures begin to teleport in. Gordon Freeman is told by his science team colleague Eli Vance to head to the surface to make a call for help. As a result of the resonance cascade, a dimensional rift has opened between Earth and the alien world Xen, causing hostile lifeforms to invade the facility. The chapter begins in the ruins of the test chamber after the incident.
For the the game's full story, see the Half-Life storyline article.