Combat in KotOR wasn't bad... Combat in KotOR was cool. It had lightsabres for crying out loud...
I do agree it didn't have a wealth of tactical options to it, but it really REALLY didn't need it. The combat in KotOR, in fact the entire game, accomplished exactly what it set out to accomplish. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now, a sequel needs to improve in may areas and adding complexity to combat could be one, but it isn't necessarilly so. KotOR was a very streamlined game and complex combat could disrupt that which in turn really could make the game stutter.