What genre is the Uncharted video game series primarily classified as?

The Uncharted video-game series is primarily classified as action-adventure.

Its games combine cinematic storytelling with third-person shooting, hand-to-hand combat, exploration, environmental traversal, and puzzle solving. Players usually control a treasure hunter moving through ruins, jungles, cities, caves, and other exotic locations while pursuing historical artifacts and confronting rival factions.

Platforming is an especially visible part of the formula: Nathan Drake climbs ledges, swings on ropes, jumps across gaps, swims, and improvises routes through collapsing environments. Later entries also add stealth, driving, boat sequences, and optional exploration, but these features support the central action-adventure structure rather than turning the series into another genre.

Uncharted is sometimes described more narrowly as a third-person shooter because gunplay is prominent. That label captures one mechanic, not the whole design. It is not a real-time strategy, life-simulation, or rhythm game. The series is also known for blending fictional treasure hunts with real historical figures, locations, legends, and folklore.