Lethal Company's next update introduces monsters that'll kidnap you and cut you up as well as its first and only vehicle

Lethal Company just got a new major update and it's going to add even more monsters, as well as a van which you can use to run over entities or annoying teammates. The Company Cruiser is the first (and currently only) vehicle in the game and is now the best option available to transport loads of scrap from the facility to your ship.

V55 is currently available on Steam in the beta branch, so you can try out all the new additions and report back any bugs or issues right now. "I'll be working on improvements and fixes over the next few days until I feel the changes do not harm the experience, then I will release it officially," solo developer Zeekerss says in a blog post. "I hope you have fun!"

All the update notes can be found here, but the best parts are definitely the two new entities and the drivable van. One of the monsters, called The Barber, is a blue clay figure holding comically large scissors, although the unfunny part is that he'll use them to try and cut you in half. The blue figure will also turn invisible if you're not in its eyeline and can teleport to random positions to get closer to players.

If that doesn't sound scary enough, apparently, every Barber follows the rhythm of a 'leader' called the Master Barber, who emits parade sound effects. A snare sound usually means it's about to attack, so if you listen closely enough to the music you should be able to predict some of its movements. Oh, and just a heads up: They usually travel in pairs. Do with that information what you will.

The other entity being added is called the Kidnapper Fox, and it pretty much does what it says on the tin. These creatures will hide in Vain Shroud groupings (the red bushes) and wait to attack players by themselves, but instead of killing you instantly, the fox will latch onto you with its tongue and drag you back to a Vain Shroud to instantly kill you. If you find yourself caught by one, try to pick up a weapon and hit it as fast as possible, as that'll stun it into dropping you.

But killing them may not be as easy as it sounds. "They take QUITE a few shovel hits to kill as well (maybe too many? Idk, maybe I missed a lot of shots because I have no idea how their hitbox works)," one player says in a Steam chat forum.

I find Baboon Hawks bad enough, so facing up against another antagonistic entity that can enter the ship and whisk me away to a certain death sounds like a wonderfully horrifying addition to the game.

Zeekerss has been going from strength to strength recently with some of these updates. Previously update v50 added an oddly adorable enemy called The Butler, who resembles a blob fish, while also implementing some necessary changes to running speed. However, like v50 it'll probably take some more time for the new entities to get balanced accordingly, so if you don't want to get punished too badly it's probably best to stay out of the beta for the time being.

Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.