If these images are updated, I wouldn't like to see that dramatic of a change in the level of simplicity. High contrast should help draw a page viewer's attention from the middle to the side of the page, especially if the images in question use easily-recognizable symbols, such as the Steam logo.
For some reason, this situation brings to mind the design philosophy that Google seems to implement- small UI changes frequently that, while only being minor, seem to 'freshen up' the experience. All my fellow Chrome users will notice that a New Tab page will now have Visited Website elements that fade in, as well as updated loading wheels. These kind of changes on TF2Maps could spruce things up. However, changes require people and hours of work, and I can't really see something similar reasonably happening.
Did I just make a Google analogy and recommend site UI changes follow that format? Gosh, I am demanding.