Tips for resident evil 2 (1998)

Hey everyone, early this year i had finished resident evil 4 and now i decided to play re2. Since i cant afford the remake or a console that runs it i decided to play the ps1 version, and i gotta say its one of the most frustrating games i've played. At the beginning of the game im faced with a lot of zombies. But ok, i can run from them to save ammo. However some times they simply block my way and im forced to shoot them to knock them down. Is it ok to do this? Should i be using the knife or smth?