Putting this game into a genre is almost impossible as it is a mixture of everything you can think of. But it's this point that makes the game so special!
You are Max (or Maxine) Remington, agent at the CIA. Your boss calls you to his office to give you a mission. He introduces you to the basic problem and the available information. Then you're on your own. Well, not really. There are CIA-analysts who support you. They collect all the data and filter out the important stuff.