2 was awful in every possible way. The level design, storytelling and characterization was better in DmC than in 1 and 3. I thought the combat was comparable to 4 and definetly better than 1. IDA about DmC not having deep combat. The thing had so many options, combos and was about as deep as any of its predecssors. It was easier to pull moves off, but there was definetly depth and IMO ran smoother as things chained into the other effortlessly.
Having played all 5 games one after the other, 1 isn't the masterpiece its been built up to be over the years. Really only 3 stands out as a great game. It was the total package. The others had major issues which keep them from standing out